Header-based packet filtering and inferencing to identify malicious network traffic using neural networks

ABSTRACT

In various examples, a first network interface duplicates received network traffic and forwards a first set of network traffic data to a central processing unit (CPU) and a second set of identical network traffic to one or more parallel processing units (PPUs). In an embodiment, the one or more PPUs analyze the second set of network traffic to identify whether the second set of network traffic is malicious. First, the one or more PPUs filter and classify the second set of network traffic into flows, or logical groupings or subsets of the second set of network traffic. Second, the one or more PPUs sort the network packets within each flow and extract features of interest specific to each flow. Using the extracted features of interest, one or more deep learning techniques infer a status indicating whether each flow is malicious (mal) or good. The one or more PPUs then forward the status for each flow to the CPU for use in determining which network traffic from the first set of network traffic is to be forwarded to a second network interface.

TECHNICAL FIELD

At least one embodiment pertains to processing resources used toaccelerate identification of malicious network traffic flows using oneor more parallel processing units. For example, at least one embodimentpertains to processors or computing systems used to filter and organizenetwork packets received by a parallel processing unit, such as agraphics processing unit, and extract information usable to inferinformation about the network packets using various deep learningmethods, according to various novel techniques described herein.

BACKGROUND

In commercial and private networks connected to the Internet, varioushardware systems and/or software programs improve network security byidentifying threats and vulnerabilities. Dynamic techniques, such asrules-based firewalls, monitor or control network traffic as it flowsthroughout a network to reduce or eliminate malicious network traffic. Arules-based firewall applies a set of rules to network traffic receivedon a first network interface to determine if that network traffic, or asubset of that network traffic, is to be forwarded to a second networkinterface within the network containing the rules-based firewall.Generally, the rules applied by a rules-based firewall are based on aset of a priori analyses performed by a network security authority. Arecent trend is for rules-based firewalls to dynamically compute newfirewall rules based on network traffic received by each rules-basedfirewall. These new rules are computed using whole packet analysis toclassify network traffic as either malicious (mal) or good. However,whole packet analysis requires computational overhead that reduces theability of new firewall rules to be determined in near-real time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for acceleratedidentification of malicious network traffic flows using one or moreparallel processing units, according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for acceleratedidentification of malicious network traffic flows between a firstnetwork interface and a second network interface by one or more parallelprocessing units, such as a graphics processing unit, communicativelycoupled to a central processing unit, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture to performidentification of malicious network traffic flows by a parallelprocessing unit, according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for performingflow analysis to extract features of interest from network traffic by aparallel processing unit, according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture to infer statusof network traffic flows from extracted features of interest by aparallel processing unit, according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a process for accelerated identification of maliciousnetwork traffic flows using one or more parallel processing units,according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a process for partial performance of flow analysis bya first kernel executed by a parallel processing unit, according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a process for partial performance of flow analysis bya second kernel executed by a parallel processing unit, according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a process for inferencing by a third kernel executedby a parallel processing unit based on features of interest aboutnetwork flows identified during flow analysis, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates a process for updating firewall rules by a centralprocessing unit based on flow status received from one or more parallelprocessing units, according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 11A illustrates inference and/or training logic, according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 11B illustrates inference and/or training logic, according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates training and deployment of a neural network,according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example data center system, according to at leastone embodiment;

FIG. 14A illustrates an example of an autonomous vehicle, according toat least one embodiment;

FIG. 14B illustrates an example of camera locations and fields of viewfor the autonomous vehicle of FIG. 14A, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 14C is a block diagram illustrating an example system architecturefor the autonomous vehicle of FIG. 14A, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 14D is a diagram illustrating a system for communication betweencloud-based server(s) and the autonomous vehicle of FIG. 14A, accordingto at least one embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system, according toat least one embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system, according toat least one embodiment;

FIG. 17 illustrates a computer system, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 18 illustrates a computer system, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 19A illustrates a computer system, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 19B illustrates a computer system, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 19C illustrates a computer system, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 19D illustrates a computer system, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIGS. 19E and 19F illustrate a shared programming model, according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 20 illustrates exemplary integrated circuits and associatedgraphics processors, according to at least one embodiment;

FIGS. 21A-21B illustrate exemplary integrated circuits and associatedgraphics processors, according to at least one embodiment;

FIGS. 22A-22B illustrate additional exemplary graphics processor logicaccording to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 23 illustrates a computer system, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 24A illustrates a parallel processor, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 24B illustrates a partition unit, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 24C illustrates a processing cluster, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 24D illustrates a graphics multiprocessor, according to at leastone embodiment;

FIG. 25 illustrates a multi-graphics processing unit (GPU) system,according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 26 illustrates a graphics processor, according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating a processor micro-architecturefor a processor, according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 28 illustrates a deep learning application processor, according toat least one embodiment;

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an example neuromorphicprocessor, according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 30 illustrates at least portions of a graphics processor, accordingto one or more embodiments;

FIG. 31 illustrates at least portions of a graphics processor, accordingto one or more embodiments;

FIG. 32 illustrates at least portions of a graphics processor, accordingto one or more embodiments;

FIG. 33 is a block diagram of a graphics processing engine of a graphicsprocessor in accordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 34 is a block diagram of at least portions of a graphics processorcore, according to at least one embodiment;

FIGS. 35A-35B illustrate thread execution logic including an array ofprocessing elements of a graphics processor core according to at leastone embodiment;

FIG. 36 illustrates a parallel processing unit (“PPU”), according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 37 illustrates a general processing cluster (“GPC”), according toat least one embodiment;

FIG. 38 illustrates a memory partition unit of a parallel processingunit (“PPU”), according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 39 illustrates a streaming multi-processor, according to at leastone embodiment.

FIG. 40 is an example data flow diagram for an advanced computingpipeline, in accordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 41 is a system diagram for an example system for training,adapting, instantiating and deploying machine learning models in anadvanced computing pipeline, in accordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 42 includes an example illustration of an advanced computingpipeline 4110A for processing imaging data, in accordance with at leastone embodiment;

FIG. 43A includes an example data flow diagram of a virtual instrumentsupporting an ultrasound device, in accordance with at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 43B includes an example data flow diagram of a virtual instrumentsupporting an CT scanner, in accordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 44A illustrates a data flow diagram for a process to train amachine learning model, in accordance with at least one embodiment; and

FIG. 44B is an example illustration of a client-server architecture toenhance annotation tools with pre-trained annotation models, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are disclosed related to improved and acceleratedidentification of malicious network traffic flows using one or moreparallel processing units by categorizing and filtering said networktraffic flows based on network packet header information, and extractingspecific features of interest from said categorized and filtered networktraffic flows to be used by one or more deep learning techniques toinfer status information related to the network traffic flows.

In network security architectures, such as those employed by commercialand private networks connected to the Internet, various hardware systemsand/or software programs improve network security by identifying threatsand vulnerabilities. Some network security architectures perform staticanalysis of systems to detect vulnerabilities in software and hardwareconfigurations. Other network security architectures perform dynamicanalysis of properties associated with networks and software systemsconnected to said networks.

Dynamic techniques comprise those that monitor or control networktraffic as it flows throughout a network. Some dynamic techniquesobserve network traffic as a whole across a network to detect patternsindicating known attacks, such as distributed denial of service (DDoS)attacks, or network scanning to detect vulnerabilities on individualcomputing systems connected to said network. Other dynamic techniquesfocus on analyzing network traffic as it passes between two bottlenecknetwork interfaces on a network. For example, network traffic receivedby a first network interface is analyzed by a system communicativelycoupled to the first network interface before it is forwarded on to asecond network interface.

One popular method of dynamic network traffic analysis is the use ofrules-based firewalls. In an embodiment, a rules-based firewall appliesa set of rules to network traffic received on a first network interfaceto determine if that network traffic, or a subset of that networktraffic, is to be forwarded to a second network interface within thenetwork containing the rules-based firewall. A rules-based firewallgenerally receives a set of rules to be applied from an external source,such as a user or system administrator, based on a set of a priorianalyses performed by a network security authority. A recent trend isfor rules-based firewalls to dynamically compute new firewall rulesbased on network traffic received by each rules-based firewall. Therules-based firewalls, in an embodiment, utilize external computinghardware to accelerate computation of new firewall rule sets. Newfirewall rule sets, in an embodiment, may be communicated between aplurality of rules-based firewalls utilized by one or more networks tocreate a distributed knowledge base of firewall rules.

Existing techniques to utilize external computing hardware to acceleratecomputation of new firewall rule sets use parallel processing units(PPUs), such as graphics processing units (GPUs), application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), and/or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), to analyze network traffic and compute new firewall rule sets.These techniques perform whole packet analysis to classify flows, orlogical groupings of network traffic, as either malicious (mal) or good.In an embodiment, a flow is a logical grouping of network trafficaccording to one or more header values, such as a destination address orprotocol type. In another embodiment, a flow is a set of packets whichshare a common property. For example, in an embodiment, a flow is agrouping or set of packets that share a common endpoint. In anembodiment, a flow is determined using an n-tuple of data valuesassociated with network packets, such as a 5-duple of header data valuesas further described below. Using these classifications, a rules-basedfirewall updates its network filtering rules to reflect security threatsidentified in near-real time.

While effective, whole packet analysis to detect malicious networktraffic, even if performed by one or more PPUs, requires additionalcomputing resources to analyze entire network packets. By contrast,network traffic analysis focused on classifying, filtering, andextracting features of interest based solely on network packet headerdata using one or more PPUs allows for identification of maliciousnetwork traffic without additional computing requirements associatedwith whole-packet analysis. Reduced computing requirements facilitatebetter firewall performance and near-real time detection of maliciousnetwork traffic to be filtered by said firewall.

To facilitate accelerated network traffic analysis using packet headerinformation by a PPU, such as a GPU, a first network interface card(NIC) receives incoming network traffic and duplicates network packetsinto two groups, as described below in conjunction with FIG. 2 . Thefirst group, in an embodiment, is forwarded, as normal, to a centralprocessing unit (CPU) to apply firewall rules. The second group, in anembodiment, is a duplicate of the first group, and is forwarded by thefirst NIC to a PPU, such as a GPU. Because the second group is aduplicate of the first group, in an embodiment, the first NIC forwardsthe first group to the PPU and the second group to the CPU. Duplicatesets of packets are interchangeable, in an embodiment. In an embodiment,the PPU performs two steps to classify network traffic as malicious(mal) or good, as described below in conjunction with FIG. 3 . First,the PPU performs flow analysis, during which network packets arefiltered and classified according to logical groupings of relatedpackets, or flows, as described below in conjunction with FIG. 4 .Second, the PPU performs inferencing using one or more deep learningtechniques based on data extracted from and associated with each flow,as described below in conjunction with FIG. 5 . The inferencing resultis then communicated to or provided to the CPU in order to generateupdated network firewall rules.

In an embodiment, the PPU utilizes two software and/or hardware kernelsto filter network packets into flows, as described below in conjunctionwith FIG. 4 . The first kernel filters relevant network packets usingone thread per network packet, in an embodiment. In another embodiment,the first kernel filters relevant network packets using one thread for aplurality of network packets, or a plurality of threads for a singlenetwork packet. The first kernel processes or extracts header dataindividual to each network packet to identify information such as asource IP address, a destination IP address, a source port, adestination port, and a network transport protocol, in an embodiment.

In an embodiment, based on this network packet header information, thefirst kernel inserts a pointer into a hash table to network packetsrelevant to a specific flow, or logical grouping of network packets. Thehash function of the hash table computes a key from a 5-tuple ofidentified or extracted packet header information comprising a source IPaddress, a destination IP address, a source port, a destination port,and a network transport protocol. This key identifies related networkpackets and classifies them as being within a flow, or a member of thelogical grouping. In another embodiment, network packets are classifiedusing a lookup table or any other appropriate data structure capable ofassociating data with the identified network packet header information.

Using the hash table or other data structure to identify flows andnetwork packets within flows, the second kernel sorts network packetswithin each flow by the order in which the network packets were receivedon the first NIC, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, the secondkernel sorts network packets according to any other appropriatecharacteristic associated with each network packet, or any otherappropriate characteristic associated with each flow.

The second kernel analyzes each flow and extracts representativefeatures of interest associated with a flow or associated with one ormore individual network packets within a flow. In an embodiment,features of interest are data values comprising network packet headerinformation. For example, features of interest, in an embodiment,comprise data values representing transport layer security (TLS) headerfields. In another embodiment, features of interest are data valuesrepresenting any other appropriate aspect of information associated withone or more flows, or one or more packets within one or more flows.

In an embodiment, the second kernel modifies or formats features ofinterest extracted from one or more flows into a data format usable byone or more deep learning techniques. For example, the second kernel maypad data values for each feature of the features of interest in order toensure that they conform to input data requirements of one or moreneural networks. The PPU, in an embodiment, utilizes a third kernel toperform inferencing based, at least in part, on the formatted featuresof interest, as described below in conjunction with FIG. 5 .Inferencing, in an embodiment, is performed using deep learningtechniques such as neural networks, as further described herein. Usingone or more deep learning techniques, the features of interestassociated with each flow are classified as either malicious (mal), orgood. This status of malicious (mal) or good is then communicated to aCPU implementing a rules-based firewall, or other network securitytechnique, to revise or add to its security rules.

Conventional approaches analyze whole network packet data to classifynetwork packets or groups of network packets as malicious (mal) or good.This increases computational requirements for network trafficclassification and, consequently, adaptation of or creation of firewallrules. These conventional approaches, as a result, have limitedapplicability in real-time or near-real time network traffic analysiswith dynamically adaptive firewall rules are necessitated. By contrast,the techniques described herein to perform packet classification andanalysis based on header information associated with network packetflows have smaller computational requirements and improved performance.In addition, a plurality of PPUs may be used to analyze a plurality ofnetwork traffic flows and perform classification in parallel.

While network security is used extensively herein for the purpose ofillustration, it should be noted that the techniques described above andbelow can be adapted for other uses. For example, in an embodiment,improved flow analysis and classification using PPUs, as describedherein, is usable to facilitate routing on commercial and privatecomputing networks. In another embodiment, improved flow analysis andclassification techniques described herein are usable on other dataformats, such as streaming image and audio data to control distortionand other interference. In another embodiment, techniques describedherein are usable to classify radio packet data on cellular telephonenetworks, such as Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) networks.

In the preceding and following description, various techniques aredescribed. For purposes of explanation, specific configurations anddetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofpossible ways of implementing the techniques. However, it will also beapparent that the techniques described below may be practiced indifferent configurations without the specific details. Furthermore,well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring thetechniques being described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for acceleratedidentification of malicious network traffic flows using one or moreparallel processing units (PPUs), such as a graphics processing unit(GPU) 108, according to at least one embodiment. In an embodiment, anetwork 102 is a group of communicatively coupled computing systems ordevices whereby information is transmitted between one or more computingsystems or devices using wired or wireless connections between each ofthe one or more computing systems or devices. For example, a network 102is a local area network (LAN), a cellular or wireless communicationnetwork such as a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR), or any otherappropriate type of network comprising raw network traffic 104.

In an embodiment, raw network traffic 104 is network traffic data thathas not been filtered by a rules-based firewall 106. Raw network traffic104, in an embodiment, comprises network packets or other encapsulationsof segmented data transmitted across and by a network 102. In anembodiment, raw network traffic 104 comprises any other appropriate dataformat usable by a network 102 to transmit information between computingsystems or devices. In an embodiment, network packets comprise variousgroupings of data, such as header data. Network packet header data, inan embodiment, comprises information specific to an individual networkpacket and how it is transmitted across or by one or more computingsystems or devices in a network 102. For example, network packet headerdata comprises source and destination information coupled with protocolinformation usable to transmit the network packet containing the headerdata.

A rules-based firewall 106, as described above, receives raw networktraffic 104 from a network 102, or as a part of a network 102. In anembodiment, a rules-based firewall 106 is a computing system comprisinghardware and/or software instructions that, when executed, apply one ormore rules to raw network traffic 104 to exclude a subset of the rawnetwork traffic 104 and generate filtered network traffic 110. In anembodiment, a rules-based firewall 106 comprises a set of rulesindicating what network traffic, or characteristics of network traffic,indicates malicious behavior. A rules-based firewall 106 filtersincoming raw network traffic 104 according to this set of rules togenerate filtered network traffic 110. In an embodiment, filterednetwork traffic 110 is a subset of raw network traffic 104.

Once a rules-based firewall 106 has applied one or more rules from a setof rules to raw network traffic 104 to generate filtered network traffic110, said rules-based firewall 106 communicates the filtered networktraffic 110 to a destination 112. In an embodiment, a destination 112 isa computing system or device. In another embodiment, a destination 112is a network interface card (NIC). In another embodiment, a destination112 is a computing system or device comprising a NIC. In an embodiment,a destination 112 is a member of a network or networks managed by orassociated with a rules-based firewall 106. In an embodiment, adestination 112 is communicatively coupled to a network 102 through orby a rules-based firewall 106.

In an embodiment, a rules-based firewall 106 is communicatively coupledwith one or more PPUs, such as one or more GPUs 108. In an embodiment, aGPU 108 is a hardware device usable to perform accelerated computing, asfurther described herein. One or more PPUs, such as GPUs 108, are acomponent of a rules-based firewall 106, in an embodiment. In anotherembodiment, one or more PPUs, such as GPUs 108, are physically separatebut communicatively coupled with a rules-based firewall 106. One or morePPUs communicatively coupled with a rules-based firewall 106 are GPUs108, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, one or more PPUscommunicatively coupled with a rules-based firewall 106 are any otherappropriate type of hardware device to facilitate accelerated computing,such as a central processing unit CPU, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), orany other appropriate type of hardware computing device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for acceleratedidentification of malicious network traffic 204 flows between a firstnetwork interface 206 and a second network interface 212 by one or moreparallel processing units (PPUs), such as a graphics processing unit(GPU) 210, communicatively coupled to a central processing unit (CPU)208 within a rules-based firewall 214 device, according to at least oneembodiment. In an embodiment, a rules-based firewall 214, as describedabove in conjunction with FIG. 1 , is a network appliance to performnetwork traffic filtering by applying one or more rules to incomingnetwork traffic 204 in order to determine a subset of the incomingnetwork traffic 204 to be forwarded or otherwise transmitted to a secondnetwork interface card (MC) 212 on a destination. A network appliance,in an embodiment, is a computing device or other combination ofcommunicatively coupled computing components to perform one or morenetwork operations, such as network traffic filtering as a rules-basedfirewall 214. In an embodiment, a first NIC 206, a CPU 208, and one ormore PPUs, such as GPUs 210, are part of a single device. In anotherembodiment, a first NIC 206, a CPU 208, and one or more PPUs, such asGPUs 210, are distributed among a plurality of devices andcommunicatively coupled.

A first NIC 206 receives network traffic 204 from, or as a part of, anetwork 202, as described above in conjunction with FIG. 1 . In anembodiment, a NIC is a hardware device that receives and processesnetwork traffic such as network packets. In an embodiment, a first NIC206 receives network traffic 204 from a network 202 and duplicates saidnetwork traffic into a first set and a second set. The first NIC 206communicates, transfers, or otherwise provides the first set of networktraffic to a CPU 208.

The CPU 208, in an embodiment, performs network traffic filtering orother manipulation. In another embodiment, the CPU 208 performs anyother appropriate type of operation or operations on the first set ofnetwork traffic. The CPU 208 communicates, transfers, or otherwiseprovides a subset of the first set of network traffic to a second NIC212 based, at least in part, on filtering rules applied to the first setof network traffic by said CPU 208, in an embodiment. In an embodiment,a CPU 208 performs operations associated with a rules-based firewall, asdescribed above.

In an embodiment, the first NIC 206 communicates, transfers, orotherwise provides the second set of network traffic to one or morePPUs, such as a GPU 210. One or more PPUs, such as GPUs 210, classify,filter, and analyze the second set of network traffic to infer whetherthe second set of network traffic is malicious (mal) or good, asdescribed below in conjunction with FIGS. 3-5 . In an embodiment, one ormore PPUs, such as GPUs 210, comprise groups of software instructions,or kernels, to filter the second set of network traffic into flows, orlogical groupings of network traffic according to a feature of thenetwork traffic, such as destination.

Using these flows, or logical groupings, a kernel being executed by oneor more PPUs, such as a GPU 210, extracts or identifies one or morefeatures of interest from each flow. The one or more PPUs, such as oneor more GPUs 210, then utilize one or more deep learning techniques toinfer a status corresponding to each flow indicating whether each flowin the second set of network traffic is malicious (mal) or good, asdescribed below in conjunction with FIG. 5 . In an embodiment, the oneor more PPUs, such as GPUs 210, communicate, transfer, or otherwiseprovide the status for each flow to the CPU 208. Based on statusinformation received from one or more PPUs, such as GPUs 210, the CPU208 generates new rules usable to filter network traffic 204 to becommunicated to the second NIC 212.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture to performidentification of malicious network traffic flows by a parallelprocessing unit, according to at least one embodiment. One or moreparallel processing units (PPUs), such as graphics processing units(GPUs) 304, receive duplicated packets from a first network interfacecard (NIC) 302, as described above in conjunction with FIG. 2 . In anembodiment, one or more PPUs, such as GPUs 304, each perform flowanalysis 306 and inferencing 308 to determine a status 310 indicatingwhether a subset of network packets in the duplicated set of packetsreceived from a first NIC 302 are malicious (mal) or good.

In an embodiment, a single PPU, such as a GPU 304, performs flowanalysis 306 and inferencing 308 on a duplicated set of packets receivedfrom a first NIC 302. In another embodiment, a plurality of PPUs, suchas GPUs 304, work in parallel and each perform flow analysis 306 andinferencing 308 on a subset of packets from the duplicated packetsreceived from the first NIC 302.

Flow analysis 306, in an embodiment, is data values and softwareinstructions that, when executed, filter packets into flows, or logicalgroupings of packets based on destination or any other appropriatepacket characteristic. In an embodiment, once classified or filteredinto flows, flow analysis 306 sorts packets within each flow andextracts one or more features of interest associated with each flow, asdescribed below in conjunction with FIG. 4 . Flow analysis 306 then, inan embodiment, adjust, formats, or otherwise prepares the extractedfeatures of interest for use by one or more deep learning techniques, asdescribed below in conjunction with FIG. 4 . In another embodiment, flowanalysis 306 does not format or adjust extracted features of interestbefore the PPU, such as a GPU 304, performs inferencing 308.

Using extracted and formatted features of interest from flow analysis306, one or more PPUs, such as GPUs 304, perform inferencing 308 usingone or more deep learning techniques, such as neural networks. In anembodiment, inferencing 308 is data values and software instructionsthat, when performed, determine a status to be associated with a subsetof duplicated network packets received from a first NIC 302. Forexample, a prior trained neural network receives a set of features ofinterest extracted by a PPU, such as a GPU 304, during flow analysis306. Using the features of interest, the trained neural network beingperformed by the PPU, such as a GPU 304, determines (or infers) whetherthe flow from which the features of interest are extracted is malicious(mal) or good, in an embodiment. This information is contained in astatus for each flow classified during flow analysis 306, in anembodiment.

In an embodiment, once one or more PPUs, such as GPUs 304, performinferencing for a flow classified from duplicated packets received froma first NIC 302 to determine a status for said flow, the one or morePPUs, such as GPUs 304, communicate, transfer, or otherwise provide thestatus to a central processing unit (CPU), as described above inconjunction with FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture for performingflow analysis 404 to extract features of interest 416 from networktraffic by a parallel processing unit (PPU), according to at least oneembodiment. In an embodiment, one or more PPUs, such as one or moregraphics processing units (GPUs), implement and perform flow analysis404. In an embodiment, flow analysis 404 is data values and softwareinstructions that, when performed, track flows in a set of duplicatedpackets 402 received by the one or more PPUs and extract features ofinterest 416 from said flows.

A flow, in an embodiment, is a logical grouping of network packetsaccording to a shared common feature, such as a destination or sourceinternet protocol (IP) address. In an embodiment, a single PPU, such asa GPU, performs flow analysis 404 on a set of duplicated network packets402 received from a first network interface card (NIC), as describedabove in conjunction with FIG. 2 . In another embodiment, a plurality ofPPUs, such as a plurality of GPUs, perform flow analysis 404individually on subsets of duplicated network packets 402 received froma first NIC. When a plurality of PPUs, such as a plurality of GPUs,perform flow analysis 404, each PPU operates in parallel with otherPPUs.

Flow analysis 404 comprises individual software kernels 406, 412 toperform classification of duplicated packets 402 into flows and extractfeatures of interest 416 from those flows. A software kernel 406, 412,in an embodiment, is a grouping of software instructions to perform anoperation using one or more processing cores and memory of a PPU, suchas a GPU. In an embodiment, a PPU, such as a GPU, performing flowanalysis 404 comprises two or more software kernels 406, 412. In anotherembodiment, a PPU, such as a GPU, performing flow analysis 404 comprisesa single kernel.

In an embodiment, a PPU, such as a GPU, utilizes two software kernels tofilter and/or classify network packets 410 into flows, and extractfeatures of interest 416 from said flows. A first kernel 406 performsclassification, such as filtering, on duplicated packets 402 received bya PPU performing flow analysis 404. A second kernel 412 sorts packets414 in each flow generated and/or identified by the first kernel 406,and extracts features of interest 416 associated with the sorted packetswithin each flow.

The first kernel 406 filters and/or classifies 410 duplicated packets402 using one thread per network packet, in an embodiment. In anotherembodiment, the first kernel 406 filters and/or classifies 410duplicated packets 402 using one thread for a plurality of networkpackets, or a plurality of threads for a single network packet. Thesecond kernel 412 sorts packets 414 within flows and extracts featuresof interest 416 from packets within a flow using one thread per hashbucket or grouping by a hash table or any other appropriate datastructure, as further described herein, in an embodiment. In anotherembodiment, the second kernel 412 sorts packets 414 within flows andextracts features of interest 416 using a plurality of threads.

To perform flow analysis, the first kernel 406 processes packet headers408, in an embodiment. The first kernel 406 processes or extracts headerdata 408 for duplicated packets 402 received by a PPU, such as a GPU.The first kernel 406 extracts packet header data 408 for duplicatedpackets 402 to identify information, such as a source IP address, adestination IP address, a source port, a destination port, and/or anetwork transport protocol, in an embodiment. In an embodiment, thefirst kernel 404 extracts packet header data 408 for each packet in aset of duplicated packets 402 received by a PPU, such as a GPU. Inanother embodiment, the first kernel 404 extracts packet header data 408for a subset of packets in a set of duplicated packets 402 received by aPPU, such as a GPU. A first kernel 406

Once a first kernel 406 processes packet headers 408, the first kernel406 classifies packets 410 into flows. In an embodiment, packetclassification (“Classify Packets”) 410 is data values and softwareinstructions that, when performed, utilize one or more organizationaldata structures to associate subsets of packets from a set of duplicatedpackets 402 received by a PPU, such as a GPU, into logical groupingssuch as flows. In an embodiment, classification of packets 410 appliesone or more filters to packets. In an embodiment, packet classification410 utilizes processed packet header 408 data, as described above.

To classify packets 410, a first kernel 406 inserts one or more datapointers to one or more relevant packets from a set of duplicatedpackets 402 into a hash table. The hash function of the hash tablecomputes a key from a 5-tuple of identified or extracted packet header408 information comprising a source IP address, a destination IPaddress, a source port, a destination port, and/or a network transportprotocol, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, the hash function ofthe hash table computes a key from any other appropriate informationassociated with individual or groupings of packets from a set ofduplicated packets 402. The key computed by the hash function of thehash table identifies related network packets and classifies them asbeing within a flow, or a member of a logical grouping associated withsubsets of the set of duplicated packets 402. In another embodiment, thefirst kernel 406 classifies network packets using a lookup table or anyother appropriate data structure capable of associating data with theprocessed network packet header 408 information.

To perform flow analysis, a second kernel 412 sorts packets 414, in anembodiment. The second kernel 412 sorts packets 414 for one or moreflows classified 410 and/or identified by a first kernel 406. In anembodiment, packet sorting (“Sort Packets”) 414 is data values andsoftware instructions that, when performed, organize packets classifiedwithin a flow. Using the hash table and/or other data structure of thefirst kernel 406 to facilitate identification of flows and networkpackets within flows, the second kernel 412 sorts network packets 414within each flow by the order in which the duplicated packets 402 werereceived on the first NIC, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, thesecond kernel 412 sorts network packets 414 within each flow by theorder in which the duplicated packets 402 were received by the PPU, suchas a GPU, performing flow analysis 404. In another embodiment, thesecond kernel 412 sorts network packets 414 according to any otherappropriate characteristic associated with each network packet from aset of duplicated packets 402 received by one or more PPUs, such asGPUs, or any other appropriate characteristic associated with each flow.

Once the second kernel 412 sorts network packets 414, the second kernel412 analyzes each flow and extracts representative features of interest416 associated with a flow or associated with one or more individualnetwork packets within a flow, in an embodiment. Extracting andformatting features of interest 416, in an embodiment, is data valuesand software instructions that, when performed, identify one or morecharacteristics, such as header data values or other information,associated with one or more packets in a flow. In an embodiment,extracted features of interest 418 are data values comprising networkpacket header information. For example, features of interest, in anembodiment, comprise data values representing transport layer security(TLS) header fields. In another embodiment, features of interest 416 aredata values representing any other appropriate aspect of informationassociated with one or more flows, or one or more packets within one ormore flows.

In an embodiment, the second kernel 412 modifies or formats features ofinterest extracted 416 from one or more flows into a data format usableby one or more deep learning techniques. For example, in one embodimentthe second kernel 412 pads data values for each feature of the featuresof interest 416 in order to ensure that they conform to input datarequirements of one or more neural networks, as further describedherein. One or more PPUs, such as GPUs utilize a third kernel to performinferencing, in an embodiment, based, at least in part, on the formattedfeatures of interest 418, as described below in conjunction with FIG. 5. Inferencing, in an embodiment, is performed using deep learningtechniques such as neural networks, as further described herein. Usingone or more deep learning techniques, the features of interest 418associated with each flow are classified as either malicious (mal), orgood. This status of malicious (mal) or good is then communicated to aCPU implementing a rules-based firewall, or other network securitytechnique, to revise or add to its security rules, as described above inconjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2 .

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture to infer status508 of network traffic flows from extracted features of interest 502 bya parallel processing unit (PPU), according to at least one embodiment.In an embodiment, a PPU, such as a graphics processing unit (GPU),performs flow analysis to generate or otherwise identify one or morefeatures of interest 502 associated with flows classified from a set ofduplicate packets received by said PPU, as described above inconjunction with FIG. 4 . Using those features of interest 502, the PPU,such as a GPU, performs inferencing 504. In an embodiment, inferencing504 is data values and software instructions to infer or calculate oneor more data values or characteristics associated with an input, such asfeatures of interest 502, as further described herein.

In an embodiment, inferencing 504 performed by a PPU, such as a GPU,utilizes one or more deep learning techniques, such as one or moreneural networks 506. A neural network, in an embodiment, is data valuesand software instructions that, when performed, infer or otherwisecompute an output value from one or more input values using one or morelearned computational functions, as further described herein. In anembodiment, the neural network is implemented using cuDNN, Pytorch,Tensorflow, or any other appropriate deep learning library, as furtherdescribed herein. In another embodiment, inferencing 504 performed by aPPU, such as a GPU, utilizes any other appropriate computationaltechnique to compute or infer value, such as linear regression methodsor any other appropriate method to compute or infer value from one ormore inputs.

Inferencing 504, as performed by one or more PPUs, such as GPUs,determines a status 508 for each flow identified and/or classifiedduring flow analysis, as described above in conjunction with FIG. 4 . Astatus, in an embodiment, is a data value indicating whether anidentified and/or classified flow is good 510, or likely does notcontain malicious behavior; or is mal 512, or likely does containmalicious behavior. Once one or more PPUs, such as GPUs, determine astatus 508 for one or more flows using inferencing 504, said PPUscommunicate, transmit, or otherwise provide each status to a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or other system to use for updating rules in arules-based firewall or for any other appropriate purpose, as describedabove in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 .

FIG. 6 illustrates a process 600 for accelerated identification ofmalicious network traffic flows using one or more parallel processingunits, according to at least one embodiment. In an embodiment, theprocess 600 starts 602 by one or more parallel processing units (PPUs),such as graphics processing units (GPUs) or any other appropriateaccelerated computing device, receiving 604 a set of duplicated networkpackets from a first network interface card (NIC), as described above inconjunction with FIG. 2 . In an embodiment, each of one or more PPUs,such as GPUs, receives 604 a set of duplicated network packets. Inanother embodiment, each of one or more PPUs, such as GPUs, receives 604a subset of a set of duplicated network packets.

In an embodiment, once one or more PPUs, such as GPUs, receive 604 a setor subset of duplicated network packets, said one or more PPUs classify606 those network packets into flows based on packet header information,as described above in conjunction with FIG. 4 . For each flow classified606 from the received 604 set or subset of duplicated network packets,each of the one or more PPUs, such as GPUs, extracts 608 one or morefeatures of interest using packet information, such as headerinformation, associated with one or more packets associated with eachflow, as described above in conjunction with FIG. 4 .

Using one or more deep learning techniques, each of the one or morePPUs, such as GPUs, infers 610 a status associated with each classifiedand/or identified flow, in an embodiment, based, at least in part, onthe extracted 608 features of interest, as described above inconjunction with FIG. 5 . In an embodiment, if that status is good 612,one or more PPUs, such as GPUs, transmit 614 a good status to a centralprocessing unit (CPU) associated with a rules-based firewall or anyother appropriate device communicatively coupled to each of the one ormore PPUs. In another embodiment, a status of good 612 is nottransmitted to the CPU. If that status is bad 612, or malicious, one ormore PPUs, such as GPUs, transmit 616 a “mal” or malicious status to aCPU associated with a rules-based firewall or any other appropriatedevice communicatively coupled to each of the one or more PPUs. In anembodiment, a status check 612 is performed by one or more PPUs, such asGPUs, for each flow identified in a set or subset of duplicated networkpackets.

FIG. 7 illustrates a process 700 for partial performance of flowanalysis by a first kernel executed by a parallel processing unit (PPU),such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), according to at least oneembodiment. In an embodiment, a flow analysis process 700 performed by afirst kernel starts 702 by receiving duplicate packets 704 from a firstnetwork interface card (NIC), as described above in conjunction withFIGS. 2-4 . In an embodiment, a first kernel receives duplicate packets704 from a NIC over a network connection between the PPU performing thefirst kernel and the NIC. In another embodiment, the first kernelreceives duplicate packets 704 over a memory interface such as DMA, asfurther described herein. In another embodiment, the first kernelreceives duplicate packets 704 over any other communicative interfacebetween the PPU performing the first kernel and the first NIC.

In an embodiment, a PPU performing the first kernel receives duplicatepackets 704 from a first NIC as a block. In another embodiment, a PPUperforming the first kernel receives duplicate packets 704 from a firstNIC in batches. In another embodiment, a PPU performing the first kernelreceives duplicate packets 704 from a first NIC as a stream of packetsand buffers fixed-size or dynamic-size blocks of packets.

Once the PPU performing the first kernel receives the duplicate packets704, the first kernel then processes header data for each packet 706, asdescribed above in conjunction with FIG. 4 . When processing header datafor each packet 706, the first kernel, in an embodiment, processespackets as a stream in buffers or blocks of packets as they are receivedfrom the first NIC 704, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, thefirst kernel processes header data for each packet 706 in a block ofpackets representative of a discrete interval received from the firstNIC 704. Processing header data for each packet 706 by the first kernelidentifies or extracts header data such as that described above inconjunction with FIG. 4 .

Using the identified or extracted header data, the first kernelclassifies network packets into flows 708, as described above inconjunction with FIG. 4 . In an embodiment, the first kernel classifiespackets into flows 708 using a hash function of a hash table, asdescribed above. In another embodiment, the first kernel classifiespackets into flows 708 using any other appropriate data structure usableto group or segment received duplicate packets into flows. Once thefirst kernel classifies the received duplicate network packets intoflows 708, the process repeats and the first kernel receives newduplicate packets 704.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process 800 for partial performance of flowanalysis by a second kernel executed by a parallel processing unit(PPU), such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), according to at leastone embodiment. In an embodiment, a flow analysis process 800 performedby a second kernel starts 802 by sorting packets classified into eachflow, as described above in conjunction with FIG. 4 . In an embodiment,the second kernel sorts packets in each flow 804 according to the orderby which each packet was received by a first network interface card(NIC). In another embodiment, the second kernel sorts packets in eachflow 804 according to the order by which each packet was received by thePPU performing the second kernel. In another embodiment, the secondkernel sorts packets in each flow 804 according to any other appropriatemetric to facilitate extraction of features of interest from each flow806, such as based on type of data content contained in each networkpacket classified within a flow.

Using sorted packets in each flow, the second kernel extracts featuresof interest from each flow, as described above in conjunction with FIG.4 . In an embodiment, the second kernel extracts features of interest806 based on all packets within each flow. In another embodiment, thesecond kernel extracts features of interest 806 based on a subset ofpackets within each flow. In another embodiment, the second kernelextracts features of interest 806 using a single representative packetfrom each flow.

Once the second kernel extracts features of interest from each flow 806,the second kernel, in an embodiment, formats the extracted features ofinterest for each flow 808 according to a data format required for inputto one or more deep learning techniques, as described above inconjunction with FIGS. 4 and 5 . In another embodiment, the features ofinterest extracted for each flow 806 do not need to be formatted, andthe second kernel does not format the features of interest 808. Inanother embodiment, the second kernel formats the features of interestfor a subset of flows 808 based on whether those features of interestconform to data requirements associated with one or more deep learningtechniques performed by a third kernel.

FIG. 9 illustrates a process for inferencing by a third kernel executedby a parallel processing unit (PPU), such as a graphics processing unit(GPU), based on features of interest about network flows identifiedduring flow analysis, according to at least one embodiment. In anembodiment, an inferencing process 900 performed by a third kernelexecuted by a PPU starts 902 by receiving features of interest for eachflow 904 from a second kernel executed by the PPU, as described above inconjunction with FIG. 4 .

Once the third kernel receives features of interest for each flow 904,in an embodiment, the third kernel infers a status based, at least inpart, on the features of interest 906. In another embodiment, the thirdkernel infers a status for features of interest 906 associated with eachflow as those features of interest are received by the third kernel. Inan embodiment, the third kernel infers a status based, at least in part,on the features of interest 906 using one or more deep learningtechniques, as described above in conjunction with FIG. 5 . In anotherembodiment, the third kernel infers a status for features of interestassociated with each flow using other inferencing techniques, such aslinear regression or any other appropriate technique to classify orinfer information about a set of data based on past performance orresults, as further described herein.

In an embodiment, the third kernel transmits the status to a rules-basedfilter 908 being performed by another processing unit, such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), as described above in conjunction with FIGS. 2,3, and 5 . The third kernel transmits the status to the rules-basedfilter 908 regardless of the status value, in an embodiment. In anotherembodiment, the third kernel transmits the status to the rules-basedfilter 908 only if the status indicates malicious behavior.

The third kernel transmits the status to the rules-based filter 908using network communication over a communicative coupling between thePPU performing the third kernel and the CPU performing the rules-basedfilter, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, the third kerneltransmits the status to the rules-based filter 908 using a memorycoupling, such as direct memory access (DMA). In another embodiment, thethird kernel transmits the status to the rules-based filter 908 usingany other communication interface between a communicatively coupled PPUperforming the third kernel and a CPU performing the rules-based filter.

FIG. 10 illustrates a process for updating firewall rules by a centralprocessing unit (CPU) based on flow status received from one or moreparallel processing units, according to at least one embodiment. Inanother embodiment, one or more parallel processing units (PPUs), suchas graphics processing units (GPUs), perform the steps for updatingfirewall rules of FIG. 10 . In an embodiment, a process 1000 forupdating firewall rules starts 1002 by receiving network packets 1004,by a CPU, from a first network interface card (NIC), as described abovein conjunction with FIG. 2 . In an embodiment, a CPU receives networkpackets 1004 over a network channel between the CPU and the first NIC.In another embodiment, the CPU receives network packets 1004 over amemory interface, such as direct memory access (DMA), between the CPUand the first NIC. In another embodiment, the CPU receives networkpackets 1004 over any other communicatively coupled interface betweenthe CPU and the first network interface.

Once the CPU receives network packets 1004, the CPU applies filteringrules to network packets 1006, as described above in conjunction withFIG. 2 . In an embodiment, the CPU transmits network packets thatsatisfy the filtering rules to a destination 1008, as described above inconjunction with FIG. 2 . In an embodiment, packets that fail to satisfythe filtering rules are discarded. In another embodiment, packets thatfail to satisfy the filtering rules are processed using any otherappropriate technique for handling malicious or unsatisfactory networkpackets.

In an embodiment, after a CPU transmits filtered packets to adestination 1008, the CPU receives one or more status values 1010corresponding to one or more network flows from one or more parallelprocessing units (PPUs), such as graphics processing units (GPUs). Inanother embodiment, a CPU receives one or more status values 1010 inparallel with application of filtering rules 1006 and transmission offiltered packets to one or more destinations 1008.

As a CPU receives one or more status values 1010 from one or more PPUs,such as GPUs, the CPU updates one or more filtering rules 1012 inresponse to said one or more status values, in an embodiment. In anotherembodiment, a CPU updates one or more filtering rules 1012 once athreshold number of status values are received 1010 from one or morePPUs, such as one or more GPUs. Once the CPU updates its filtering rules1012, the CPU continues the process 1000 by receiving new networkpackets 1004, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, the CPUcontinually receives new packets 1004 in parallel with one or more otheroperations performed in conjunction with the process 1000.

Inference and Training Logic

FIG. 11A illustrates inference and/or training logic 1115 used toperform inferencing and/or training operations associated with one ormore embodiments. Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115are provided below in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B.

In at least one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 mayinclude, without limitation, code and/or data storage 1101 to storeforward and/or output weight and/or input/output data, and/or otherparameters to configure neurons or layers of a neural network trainedand/or used for inferencing in aspects of one or more embodiments. In atleast one embodiment, training logic 1115 may include, or be coupled tocode and/or data storage 1101 to store graph code or other software tocontrol timing and/or order, in which weight and/or other parameterinformation is to be loaded to configure, logic, including integerand/or floating point units (collectively, arithmetic logic units(ALUs). In at least one embodiment, code, such as graph code, loadsweight or other parameter information into processor ALUs based on anarchitecture of a neural network to which such code corresponds. In atleast one embodiment code and/or data storage 1101 stores weightparameters and/or input/output data of each layer of a neural networktrained or used in conjunction with one or more embodiments duringforward propagation of input/output data and/or weight parameters duringtraining and/or inferencing using aspects of one or more embodiments. Inat least one embodiment, any portion of code and/or data storage 1101may be included with other on-chip or off-chip data storage, including aprocessor's L1, L2, or L3 cache or system memory.

In at least one embodiment, any portion of code and/or data storage 1101may be internal or external to one or more processors or other hardwarelogic devices or circuits. In at least one embodiment, code and/or codeand/or data storage 1101 may be cache memory, dynamic randomlyaddressable memory (“DRAM”), static randomly addressable memory(“SRAM”), non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), or other storage. Inat least one embodiment, a choice of whether code and/or code and/ordata storage 1101 is internal or external to a processor, for example,or comprising DRAM, SRAM, flash or some other storage type may depend onavailable storage on-chip versus off-chip, latency requirements oftraining and/or inferencing functions being performed, batch size ofdata used in inferencing and/or training of a neural network, or somecombination of these factors.

In at least one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 mayinclude, without limitation, a code and/or data storage 1105 to storebackward and/or output weight and/or input/output data corresponding toneurons or layers of a neural network trained and/or used forinferencing in aspects of one or more embodiments. In at least oneembodiment, code and/or data storage 1105 stores weight parametersand/or input/output data of each layer of a neural network trained orused in conjunction with one or more embodiments during backwardpropagation of input/output data and/or weight parameters duringtraining and/or inferencing using aspects of one or more embodiments. Inat least one embodiment, training logic 1115 may include, or be coupledto code and/or data storage 1105 to store graph code or other softwareto control timing and/or order, in which weight and/or other parameterinformation is to be loaded to configure, logic, including integerand/or floating point units (collectively, arithmetic logic units(ALUs).

In at least one embodiment, code, such as graph code, causes the loadingof weight or other parameter information into processor ALUs based on anarchitecture of a neural network to which such code corresponds. In atleast one embodiment, any portion of code and/or data storage 1105 maybe included with other on-chip or off-chip data storage, including aprocessor's L1, L2, or L3 cache or system memory. In at least oneembodiment, any portion of code and/or data storage 1105 may be internalor external to one or more processors or other hardware logic devices orcircuits. In at least one embodiment, code and/or data storage 1105 maybe cache memory, DRAM, SRAM, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory),or other storage. In at least one embodiment, a choice of whether codeand/or data storage 1105 is internal or external to a processor, forexample, or comprising DRAM, SRAM, flash memory or some other storagetype may depend on available storage on-chip versus off-chip, latencyrequirements of training and/or inferencing functions being performed,batch size of data used in inferencing and/or training of a neuralnetwork, or some combination of these factors.

In at least one embodiment, code and/or data storage 1101 and codeand/or data storage 1105 may be separate storage structures. In at leastone embodiment, code and/or data storage 1101 and code and/or datastorage 1105 may be a combined storage structure. In at least oneembodiment, code and/or data storage 1101 and code and/or data storage1105 may be partially combined and partially separate. In at least oneembodiment, any portion of code and/or data storage 1101 and code and/ordata storage 1105 may be included with other on-chip or off-chip datastorage, including a processor's L1, L2, or L3 cache or system memory.

In at least one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 mayinclude, without limitation, one or more arithmetic logic unit(s)(“ALU(s)”) 1110, including integer and/or floating point units, toperform logical and/or mathematical operations based, at least in parton, or indicated by, training and/or inference code (e.g., graph code),a result of which may produce activations (e.g., output values fromlayers or neurons within a neural network) stored in an activationstorage 1120 that are functions of input/output and/or weight parameterdata stored in code and/or data storage 1101 and/or code and/or datastorage 1105. In at least one embodiment, activations stored inactivation storage 1120 are generated according to linear algebraic andor matrix-based mathematics performed by ALU(s) 1110 in response toperforming instructions or other code, wherein weight values stored incode and/or data storage 1105 and/or data storage 1101 are used asoperands along with other values, such as bias values, gradientinformation, momentum values, or other parameters or hyperparameters,any or all of which may be stored in code and/or data storage 1105 orcode and/or data storage 1101 or another storage on or off-chip.

In at least one embodiment, ALU(s) 1110 are included within one or moreprocessors or other hardware logic devices or circuits, whereas inanother embodiment, ALU(s) 1110 may be external to a processor or otherhardware logic device or circuit that uses them (e.g., a co-processor).In at least one embodiment, ALUs 1110 may be included within aprocessor's execution units or otherwise within a bank of ALUsaccessible by a processor's execution units either within same processoror distributed between different processors of different types (e.g.,central processing units, graphics processing units, fixed functionunits, etc.). In at least one embodiment, code and/or data storage 1101,code and/or data storage 1105, and activation storage 1120 may share aprocessor or other hardware logic device or circuit, whereas in anotherembodiment, they may be in different processors or other hardware logicdevices or circuits, or some combination of same and differentprocessors or other hardware logic devices or circuits. In at least oneembodiment, any portion of activation storage 1120 may be included withother on-chip or off-chip data storage, including a processor's L1, L2,or L3 cache or system memory. Furthermore, inferencing and/or trainingcode may be stored with other code accessible to a processor or otherhardware logic or circuit and fetched and/or processed using aprocessor's fetch, decode, scheduling, execution, retirement and/orother logical circuits.

In at least one embodiment, activation storage 1120 may be cache memory,DRAM, SRAM, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), or other storage.In at least one embodiment, activation storage 1120 may be completely orpartially within or external to one or more processors or other logicalcircuits. In at least one embodiment, a choice of whether activationstorage 1120 is internal or external to a processor, for example, orcomprising DRAM, SRAM, flash memory or some other storage type maydepend on available storage on-chip versus off-chip, latencyrequirements of training and/or inferencing functions being performed,batch size of data used in inferencing and/or training of a neuralnetwork, or some combination of these factors.

In at least one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115illustrated in FIG. 11A may be used in conjunction with anapplication-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”), such as a TensorFlow®Processing Unit from Google, an inference processing unit (IPU) fromGraphcore™, or a Nervana® (e.g., “Lake Crest”) processor from IntelCorp. In at least one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115illustrated in FIG. 11A may be used in conjunction with centralprocessing unit (“CPU”) hardware, graphics processing unit (“GPU”)hardware or other hardware, such as field programmable gate arrays(“FPGAs”).

FIG. 11B illustrates inference and/or training logic 1115, according toat least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, inference and/ortraining logic 1115 may include, without limitation, hardware logic inwhich computational resources are dedicated or otherwise exclusivelyused in conjunction with weight values or other informationcorresponding to one or more layers of neurons within a neural network.In at least one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115illustrated in FIG. 11B may be used in conjunction with anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), such as TensorFlow®Processing Unit from Google, an inference processing unit (IPU) fromGraphcore™, or a Nervana® (e.g., “Lake Crest”) processor from IntelCorp. In at least one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115illustrated in FIG. 11B may be used in conjunction with centralprocessing unit (CPU) hardware, graphics processing unit (GPU) hardwareor other hardware, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In atleast one embodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 includes,without limitation, code and/or data storage 1101 and code and/or datastorage 1105, which may be used to store code (e.g., graph code), weightvalues and/or other information, including bias values, gradientinformation, momentum values, and/or other parameter or hyperparameterinformation. In at least one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11B, each ofcode and/or data storage 1101 and code and/or data storage 1105 isassociated with a dedicated computational resource, such ascomputational hardware 1102 and computational hardware 1106,respectively. In at least one embodiment, each of computational hardware1102 and computational hardware 1106 comprises one or more ALUs thatperform mathematical functions, such as linear algebraic functions, onlyon information stored in code and/or data storage 1101 and code and/ordata storage 1105, respectively, result of which is stored in activationstorage 1120.

In at least one embodiment, each of code and/or data storage 1101 and1105 and corresponding computational hardware 1102 and 1106,respectively, correspond to different layers of a neural network, suchthat resulting activation from one storage/computational pair 1101/1102of code and/or data storage 1101 and computational hardware 1102 isprovided as an input to a next storage/computational pair 1105/1106 ofcode and/or data storage 1105 and computational hardware 1106, in orderto mirror a conceptual organization of a neural network. In at least oneembodiment, each of storage/computational pairs 1101/1102 and 1105/1106may correspond to more than one neural network layer. In at least oneembodiment, additional storage/computation pairs (not shown) subsequentto or in parallel with storage/computation pairs 1101/1102 and 1105/1106may be included in inference and/or training logic 1115.

Neural Network Training and Deployment

FIG. 12 illustrates training and deployment of a deep neural network,according to at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,untrained neural network 1206 is trained using a training dataset 1202.In at least one embodiment, training framework 1204 is a PyTorchframework, whereas in other embodiments, training framework 1204 is aTensorFlow, Boost, Caffe, Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit/CNTK, MXNet,Chainer, Keras, Deeplearning4j, or other training framework. In at leastone embodiment, training framework 1204 trains an untrained neuralnetwork 1206 and enables it to be trained using processing resourcesdescribed herein to generate a trained neural network 1208. In at leastone embodiment, weights may be chosen randomly or by pre-training usinga deep belief network. In at least one embodiment, training may beperformed in either a supervised, partially supervised, or unsupervisedmanner.

In at least one embodiment, untrained neural network 1206 is trainedusing supervised learning, wherein training dataset 1202 includes aninput paired with a desired output for an input, or where trainingdataset 1202 includes input having a known output and an output ofneural network 1206 is manually graded. In at least one embodiment,untrained neural network 1206 is trained in a supervised manner andprocesses inputs from training dataset 1202 and compares resultingoutputs against a set of expected or desired outputs. In at least oneembodiment, errors are then propagated back through untrained neuralnetwork 1206. In at least one embodiment, training framework 1204adjusts weights that control untrained neural network 1206. In at leastone embodiment, training framework 1204 includes tools to monitor howwell untrained neural network 1206 is converging towards a model, suchas trained neural network 1208, suitable to generating correct answers,such as in result 1214, based on input data such as a new dataset 1212.In at least one embodiment, training framework 1204 trains untrainedneural network 1206 repeatedly while adjust weights to refine an outputof untrained neural network 1206 using a loss function and adjustmentalgorithm, such as stochastic gradient descent. In at least oneembodiment, training framework 1204 trains untrained neural network 1206until untrained neural network 1206 achieves a desired accuracy. In atleast one embodiment, trained neural network 1208 can then be deployedto implement any number of machine learning operations.

In at least one embodiment, untrained neural network 1206 is trainedusing unsupervised learning, wherein untrained neural network 1206attempts to train itself using unlabeled data. In at least oneembodiment, unsupervised learning training dataset 1202 will includeinput data without any associated output data or “ground truth” data. Inat least one embodiment, untrained neural network 1206 can learngroupings within training dataset 1202 and can determine how individualinputs are related to untrained dataset 1202. In at least oneembodiment, unsupervised training can be used to generate aself-organizing map in trained neural network 1208 capable of performingoperations useful in reducing dimensionality of new dataset 1212. In atleast one embodiment, unsupervised training can also be used to performanomaly detection, which allows identification of data points in newdataset 1212 that deviate from normal patterns of new dataset 1212.

In at least one embodiment, semi-supervised learning may be used, whichis a technique in which in training dataset 1202 includes a mix oflabeled and unlabeled data. In at least one embodiment, trainingframework 1204 may be used to perform incremental learning, such asthrough transferred learning techniques. In at least one embodiment,incremental learning enables trained neural network 1208 to adapt to newdataset 1212 without forgetting knowledge instilled within trainedneural network 1208 during initial training.

Data Center

FIG. 13 illustrates an example data center 1300, in which at least oneembodiment may be used. In at least one embodiment, data center 1300includes a data center infrastructure layer 1310, a framework layer1320, a software layer 1330 and an application layer 1340.

In at least one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13 , data centerinfrastructure layer 1310 may include a resource orchestrator 1312,grouped computing resources 1314, and node computing resources (“nodeC.R.s”) 1316(1)-1316(N), where “N” represents a positive integer (whichmay be a different integer “N” than used in other figures). In at leastone embodiment, node C.R.s 1316(1)-1316(N) may include, but are notlimited to, any number of central processing units (“CPUs”) or otherprocessors (including accelerators, field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), graphics processors, etc.), memory storage devices1318(1)-1318(N) (e.g., dynamic read-only memory, solid state storage ordisk drives), network input/output (“NW I/O”) devices, network switches,virtual machines (“VMs”), power modules, and cooling modules, etc. In atleast one embodiment, one or more node C.R.s from among node C.R.s1316(1)-1316(N) may be a server having one or more of above-mentionedcomputing resources.

In at least one embodiment, grouped computing resources 1314 may includeseparate groupings of node C.R.s housed within one or more racks (notshown), or many racks housed in data centers at various geographicallocations (also not shown). In at least one embodiment, separategroupings of node C.R.s within grouped computing resources 1314 mayinclude grouped compute, network, memory or storage resources that maybe configured or allocated to support one or more workloads. In at leastone embodiment, several node C.R.s including CPUs or processors maygrouped within one or more racks to provide compute resources to supportone or more workloads. In at least one embodiment, one or more racks mayalso include any number of power modules, cooling modules, and networkswitches, in any combination.

In at least one embodiment, resource orchestrator 1312 may configure orotherwise control one or more node C.R.s 1316(1)-1316(N) and/or groupedcomputing resources 1314. In at least one embodiment, resourceorchestrator 1312 may include a software design infrastructure (“SDI”)management entity for data center 1300. In at least one embodiment,resource orchestrator 1112 may include hardware, software or somecombination thereof.

In at least one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13 , framework layer 1320includes a job scheduler 1322, a configuration manager 1324, a resourcemanager 1326 and a distributed file system 1328. In at least oneembodiment, framework layer 1320 may include a framework to supportsoftware 1332 of software layer 1330 and/or one or more application(s)1342 of application layer 1340. In at least one embodiment, software1332 or application(s) 1342 may respectively include web-based servicesoftware or applications, such as those provided by Amazon Web Services,Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. In at least one embodiment, frameworklayer 1320 may be, but is not limited to, a type of free and open-sourcesoftware web application framework such as Apache Spark™ (hereinafter“Spark”) that may utilize distributed file system 1328 for large-scaledata processing (e.g., “big data”). In at least one embodiment, jobscheduler 1332 may include a Spark driver to facilitate scheduling ofworkloads supported by various layers of data center 1300. In at leastone embodiment, configuration manager 1324 may be capable of configuringdifferent layers such as software layer 1330 and framework layer 1320including Spark and distributed file system 1328 for supportinglarge-scale data processing. In at least one embodiment, resourcemanager 1326 may be capable of managing clustered or grouped computingresources mapped to or allocated for support of distributed file system1328 and job scheduler 1322. In at least one embodiment, clustered orgrouped computing resources may include grouped computing resources 1314at data center infrastructure layer 1310. In at least one embodiment,resource manager 1326 may coordinate with resource orchestrator 1312 tomanage these mapped or allocated computing resources.

In at least one embodiment, software 1332 included in software layer1330 may include software used by at least portions of node C.R.s1316(1)-1316(N), grouped computing resources 1314, and/or distributedfile system 1328 of framework layer 1320. In at least one embodiment,one or more types of software may include, but are not limited to,Internet web page search software, e-mail virus scan software, databasesoftware, and streaming video content software.

In at least one embodiment, application(s) 1342 included in applicationlayer 1340 may include one or more types of applications used by atleast portions of node C.R.s 1316(1)-1316(N), grouped computingresources 1314, and/or distributed file system 1328 of framework layer1320. In at least one embodiment, one or more types of applications mayinclude, but are not limited to, any number of a genomics application, acognitive compute, application and a machine learning application,including training or inferencing software, machine learning frameworksoftware (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Caffe, etc.) or other machinelearning applications used in conjunction with one or more embodiments.

In at least one embodiment, any of configuration manager 1324, resourcemanager 1326, and resource orchestrator 1312 may implement any numberand type of self-modifying actions based on any amount and type of dataacquired in any technically feasible fashion. In at least oneembodiment, self-modifying actions may relieve a data center operator ofdata center 1300 from making possibly bad configuration decisions andpossibly avoiding underutilized and/or poor performing portions of adata center.

In at least one embodiment, data center 1300 may include tools,services, software or other resources to train one or more machinelearning models or predict or infer information using one or moremachine learning models according to one or more embodiments describedherein. For example, in at least one embodiment, a machine learningmodel may be trained by calculating weight parameters according to aneural network architecture using software and computing resourcesdescribed above with respect to data center 1300. In at least oneembodiment, trained machine learning models corresponding to one or moreneural networks may be used to infer or predict information usingresources described above with respect to data center 1300 by usingweight parameters calculated through one or more training techniquesdescribed herein.

In at least one embodiment, data center may use CPUs,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), GPUs, FPGAs, or otherhardware to perform training and/or inferencing using above-describedresources. Moreover, one or more software and/or hardware resourcesdescribed above may be configured as a service to allow users to trainor performing inferencing of information, such as image recognition,speech recognition, or other artificial intelligence services.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 13 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

Autonomous Vehicle

FIG. 14A illustrates an example of an autonomous vehicle 1400, accordingto at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, autonomousvehicle 1400 (alternatively referred to herein as “vehicle 1400”) maybe, without limitation, a passenger vehicle, such as a car, a truck, abus, and/or another type of vehicle that accommodates one or morepassengers. In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may be asemi-tractor-trailer truck used for hauling cargo. In at least oneembodiment, vehicle 1400 may be an airplane, robotic vehicle, or otherkind of vehicle.

Autonomous vehicles may be described in terms of automation levels,defined by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), adivision of US Department of Transportation, and Society of AutomotiveEngineers (“SAE”) “Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to DrivingAutomation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles” (e.g., Standard No.J3016-201806, published on Jun. 15, 2018, Standard No. J3016-201609,published on Sep. 30, 2016, and previous and future versions of thisstandard). In one or more embodiments, vehicle 1400 may be capable offunctionality in accordance with one or more of Level 1 through Level 5of autonomous driving levels. For example, in at least one embodiment,vehicle 1400 may be capable of conditional automation (Level 3), highautomation (Level 4), and/or full automation (Level 5), depending onembodiment.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include, withoutlimitation, components such as a chassis, a vehicle body, wheels (e.g.,2, 4, 6, 8, 18, etc.), tires, axles, and other components of a vehicle.In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include, withoutlimitation, a propulsion system 1450, such as an internal combustionengine, hybrid electric power plant, an all-electric engine, and/oranother propulsion system type. In at least one embodiment, propulsionsystem 1450 may be connected to a drive train of vehicle 1400, which mayinclude, without limitation, a transmission, to enable propulsion ofvehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment, propulsion system 1450 may becontrolled in response to receiving signals from athrottle/accelerator(s) 1452.

In at least one embodiment, a steering system 1454, which may include,without limitation, a steering wheel, is used to steer vehicle 1400(e.g., along a desired path or route) when propulsion system 1450 isoperating (e.g., when vehicle 1400 is in motion). In at least oneembodiment, steering system 1454 may receive signals from steeringactuator(s) 1456. In at least one embodiment, a steering wheel may beoptional for full automation (Level 5) functionality. In at least oneembodiment, a brake sensor system 1446 may be used to operate vehiclebrakes in response to receiving signals from brake actuator(s) 1448and/or brake sensors.

In at least one embodiment, controller(s) 1436, which may include,without limitation, one or more system on chips (“SoCs”) (not shown inFIG. 14A) and/or graphics processing unit(s) (“GPU(s)”), provide signals(e.g., representative of commands) to one or more components and/orsystems of vehicle 1400. For instance, in at least one embodiment,controller(s) 1436 may send signals to operate vehicle brakes via brakeactuator(s) 1448, to operate steering system 1454 via steeringactuator(s) 1456, to operate propulsion system 1450 viathrottle/accelerator(s) 1452. In at least one embodiment, controller(s)1436 may include one or more onboard (e.g., integrated) computingdevices that process sensor signals, and output operation commands(e.g., signals representing commands) to enable autonomous drivingand/or to assist a human driver in driving vehicle 1400. In at least oneembodiment, controller(s) 1436 may include a first controller forautonomous driving functions, a second controller for functional safetyfunctions, a third controller for artificial intelligence functionality(e.g., computer vision), a fourth controller for infotainmentfunctionality, a fifth controller for redundancy in emergencyconditions, and/or other controllers. In at least one embodiment, asingle controller may handle two or more of above functionalities, twoor more controllers may handle a single functionality, and/or anycombination thereof.

In at least one embodiment, controller(s) 1436 provide signals forcontrolling one or more components and/or systems of vehicle 1400 inresponse to sensor data received from one or more sensors (e.g., sensorinputs). In at least one embodiment, sensor data may be received from,for example and without limitation, global navigation satellite systems(“GNSS”) sensor(s) 1458 (e.g., Global Positioning System sensor(s)),RADAR sensor(s) 1460, ultrasonic sensor(s) 1462, LIDAR sensor(s) 1464,inertial measurement unit (“IMU”) sensor(s) 1466 (e.g.,accelerometer(s), gyroscope(s), a magnetic compass or magneticcompasses, magnetometer(s), etc.), microphone(s) 1496, stereo camera(s)1468, wide-view camera(s) 1470 (e.g., fisheye cameras), infraredcamera(s) 1472, surround camera(s) 1474 (e.g., 360 degree cameras),long-range cameras (not shown in FIG. 14A), mid-range camera(s) (notshown in FIG. 14A), speed sensor(s) 1444 (e.g., for measuring speed ofvehicle 1400), vibration sensor(s) 1442, steering sensor(s) 1440, brakesensor(s) (e.g., as part of brake sensor system 1446), and/or othersensor types.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of controller(s) 1436 mayreceive inputs (e.g., represented by input data) from an instrumentcluster 1432 of vehicle 1400 and provide outputs (e.g., represented byoutput data, display data, etc.) via a human-machine interface (“HMI”)display 1434, an audible annunciator, a loudspeaker, and/or via othercomponents of vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment, outputs mayinclude information such as vehicle velocity, speed, time, map data(e.g., a High Definition map (not shown in FIG. 14A), location data(e.g., vehicle's 1400 location, such as on a map), direction, locationof other vehicles (e.g., an occupancy grid), information about objectsand status of objects as perceived by controller(s) 1436, etc. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, HMI display 1434 may displayinformation about presence of one or more objects (e.g., a street sign,caution sign, traffic light changing, etc.), and/or information aboutdriving maneuvers vehicle has made, is making, or will make (e.g.,changing lanes now, taking exit 34B in two miles, etc.).

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 further includes a networkinterface 1424 which may use wireless antenna(s) 1426 and/or modem(s) tocommunicate over one or more networks. For example, in at least oneembodiment, network interface 1424 may be capable of communication overLong-Term Evolution (“LTE”), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access(“WCDMA”), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), GlobalSystem for Mobile communication (“GSM”), IMT-CDMA Multi-Carrier(“CDMA2000”) networks, etc. In at least one embodiment, wirelessantenna(s) 1426 may also enable communication between objects inenvironment (e.g., vehicles, mobile devices, etc.), using local areanetwork(s), such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (“LE”), Z-Wave,ZigBee, etc., and/or low power wide-area network(s) (“LPWANs”), such asLoRaWAN, SigFox, etc. Protocols.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 14A for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 14B illustrates an example of camera locations and fields of viewfor autonomous vehicle 1400 of FIG. 14A, according to at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, cameras and respective fields ofview are one example embodiment and are not intended to be limiting. Forinstance, in at least one embodiment, additional and/or alternativecameras may be included and/or cameras may be located at differentlocations on vehicle 1400.

In at least one embodiment, camera types for cameras may include, butare not limited to, digital cameras that may be adapted for use withcomponents and/or systems of vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment,camera(s) may operate at automotive safety integrity level (“ASIL”) Band/or at another ASIL. In at least one embodiment, camera types may becapable of any image capture rate, such as 60 frames per second (fps),1220 fps, 240 fps, etc., depending on embodiment. In at least oneembodiment, cameras may be capable of using rolling shutters, globalshutters, another type of shutter, or a combination thereof. In at leastone embodiment, color filter array may include a red clear clear clear(“RCCC”) color filter array, a red clear clear blue (“RCCB”) colorfilter array, a red blue green clear (“RBGC”) color filter array, aFoveon X3 color filter array, a Bayer sensors (“RGGB”) color filterarray, a monochrome sensor color filter array, and/or another type ofcolor filter array. In at least one embodiment, clear pixel cameras,such as cameras with an RCCC, an RCCB, and/or an RBGC color filterarray, may be used in an effort to increase light sensitivity.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of camera(s) may be used toperform advanced driver assistance systems (“ADAS”) functions (e.g., aspart of a redundant or fail-safe design). For example, in at least oneembodiment, a Multi-Function Mono Camera may be installed to providefunctions including lane departure warning, traffic sign assist andintelligent headlamp control. In at least one embodiment, one or more ofcamera(s) (e.g., all cameras) may record and provide image data (e.g.,video) simultaneously.

In at least one embodiment, one or more camera may be mounted in amounting assembly, such as a custom designed (three-dimensional (“3D”)printed) assembly, in order to cut out stray light and reflections fromwithin vehicle 1400 (e.g., reflections from dashboard reflected inwindshield mirrors) which may interfere with camera image data captureabilities. With reference to wing-mirror mounting assemblies, in atleast one embodiment, wing-mirror assemblies may be custom 3D printed sothat a camera mounting plate matches a shape of a wing-mirror. In atleast one embodiment, camera(s) may be integrated into wing-mirrors. Inat least one embodiment, for side-view cameras, camera(s) may also beintegrated within four pillars at each corner of a cabin.

In at least one embodiment, cameras with a field of view that includeportions of an environment in front of vehicle 1400 (e.g., front-facingcameras) may be used for surround view, to help identify forward facingpaths and obstacles, as well as aid in, with help of one or more ofcontroller(s) 1436 and/or control SoCs, providing information criticalto generating an occupancy grid and/or determining preferred vehiclepaths. In at least one embodiment, front-facing cameras may be used toperform many similar ADAS functions as LIDAR, including, withoutlimitation, emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and collisionavoidance. In at least one embodiment, front-facing cameras may also beused for ADAS functions and systems including, without limitation, LaneDeparture Warnings (“LDW”), Autonomous Cruise Control (“ACC”), and/orother functions such as traffic sign recognition.

In at least one embodiment, a variety of cameras may be used in afront-facing configuration, including, for example, a monocular cameraplatform that includes a CMOS (“complementary metal oxidesemiconductor”) color imager. In at least one embodiment, a wide-viewcamera 1470 may be used to perceive objects coming into view from aperiphery (e.g., pedestrians, crossing traffic or bicycles). Althoughonly one wide-view camera 1470 is illustrated in FIG. 14B, in otherembodiments, there may be any number (including zero) wide-view camerason vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment, any number of long-rangecamera(s) 1498 (e.g., a long-view stereo camera pair) may be used fordepth-based object detection, especially for objects for which a neuralnetwork has not yet been trained. In at least one embodiment, long-rangecamera(s) 1498 may also be used for object detection and classification,as well as basic object tracking.

In at least one embodiment, any number of stereo camera(s) 1468 may alsobe included in a front-facing configuration. In at least one embodiment,one or more of stereo camera(s) 1468 may include an integrated controlunit comprising a scalable processing unit, which may provide aprogrammable logic (“FPGA”) and a multi-core micro-processor with anintegrated Controller Area Network (“CAN”) or Ethernet interface on asingle chip. In at least one embodiment, such a unit may be used togenerate a 3D map of an environment of vehicle 1400, including adistance estimate for all points in an image. In at least oneembodiment, one or more of stereo camera(s) 1468 may include, withoutlimitation, compact stereo vision sensor(s) that may include, withoutlimitation, two camera lenses (one each on left and right) and an imageprocessing chip that may measure distance from vehicle 1400 to targetobject and use generated information (e.g., metadata) to activateautonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning functions. In atleast one embodiment, other types of stereo camera(s) 1468 may be usedin addition to, or alternatively from, those described herein.

In at least one embodiment, cameras with a field of view that includeportions of environment to sides of vehicle 1400 (e.g., side-viewcameras) may be used for surround view, providing information used tocreate and update an occupancy grid, as well as to generate side impactcollision warnings. For example, in at least one embodiment, surroundcamera(s) 1474 (e.g., four surround cameras as illustrated in FIG. 14B)could be positioned on vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment,surround camera(s) 1474 may include, without limitation, any number andcombination of wide-view cameras, fisheye camera(s), 360 degreecamera(s), and/or similar cameras. For instance, in at least oneembodiment, four fisheye cameras may be positioned on a front, a rear,and sides of vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 mayuse three surround camera(s) 1474 (e.g., left, right, and rear), and mayleverage one or more other camera(s) (e.g., a forward-facing camera) asa fourth surround-view camera.

In at least one embodiment, cameras with a field of view that includeportions of an environment behind vehicle 1400 (e.g., rear-view cameras)may be used for parking assistance, surround view, rear collisionwarnings, and creating and updating an occupancy grid. In at least oneembodiment, a wide variety of cameras may be used including, but notlimited to, cameras that are also suitable as a front-facing camera(s)(e.g., long-range cameras 1498 and/or mid-range camera(s) 1476, stereocamera(s) 1468), infrared camera(s) 1472, etc.), as described herein.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 14B for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 14C is a block diagram illustrating an example system architecturefor autonomous vehicle 1400 of FIG. 14A, according to at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, each of components, features,and systems of vehicle 1400 in FIG. 14C is illustrated as beingconnected via a bus 1402. In at least one embodiment, bus 1402 mayinclude, without limitation, a CAN data interface (alternativelyreferred to herein as a “CAN bus”). In at least one embodiment, a CANmay be a network inside vehicle 1400 used to aid in control of variousfeatures and functionality of vehicle 1400, such as actuation of brakes,acceleration, braking, steering, windshield wipers, etc. In at least oneembodiment, bus 1402 may be configured to have dozens or even hundredsof nodes, each with its own unique identifier (e.g., a CAN ID). In atleast one embodiment, bus 1402 may be read to find steering wheel angle,ground speed, engine revolutions per minute (“RPMs”), button positions,and/or other vehicle status indicators. In at least one embodiment, bus1402 may be a CAN bus that is ASIL B compliant.

In at least one embodiment, in addition to, or alternatively from CAN,FlexRay and/or Ethernet protocols may be used. In at least oneembodiment, there may be any number of busses forming bus 1402, whichmay include, without limitation, zero or more CAN busses, zero or moreFlexRay busses, zero or more Ethernet busses, and/or zero or more othertypes of busses using different protocols. In at least one embodiment,two or more busses may be used to perform different functions, and/ormay be used for redundancy. For example, a first bus may be used forcollision avoidance functionality and a second bus may be used foractuation control. In at least one embodiment, each bus of bus 1402 maycommunicate with any of components of vehicle 1400, and two or morebusses of bus 1402 may communicate with corresponding components. In atleast one embodiment, each of any number of system(s) on chip(s)(“SoC(s)”) 1404 (such as SoC 1404(A) and SoC 1404(B), each ofcontroller(s) 1436, and/or each computer within vehicle may have accessto same input data (e.g., inputs from sensors of vehicle 1400), and maybe connected to a common bus, such CAN bus.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include one or morecontroller(s) 1436, such as those described herein with respect to FIG.14A. In at least one embodiment, controller(s) 1436 may be used for avariety of functions. In at least one embodiment, controller(s) 1436 maybe coupled to any of various other components and systems of vehicle1400, and may be used for control of vehicle 1400, artificialintelligence of vehicle 1400, infotainment for vehicle 1400, and/orother functions.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include any number of SoCs1404. In at least one embodiment, each of SoCs 1404 may include, withoutlimitation, central processing units (“CPU(s)”) 1406, graphicsprocessing units (“GPU(s)”) 1408, processor(s) 1410, cache(s) 1412,accelerator(s) 1414, data store(s) 1416, and/or other components andfeatures not illustrated. In at least one embodiment, SoC(s) 1404 may beused to control vehicle 1400 in a variety of platforms and systems. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, SoC(s) 1404 may be combined in asystem (e.g., system of vehicle 1400) with a High Definition (“HD”) map1422 which may obtain map refreshes and/or updates via network interface1424 from one or more servers (not shown in FIG. 14C).

In at least one embodiment, CPU(s) 1406 may include a CPU cluster or CPUcomplex (alternatively referred to herein as a “CCPLEX”). In at leastone embodiment, CPU(s) 1406 may include multiple cores and/or level two(“L2”) caches. For instance, in at least one embodiment, CPU(s) 1406 mayinclude eight cores in a coherent multi-processor configuration. In atleast one embodiment, CPU(s) 1406 may include four dual-core clusterswhere each cluster has a dedicated L2 cache (e.g., a 2 megabyte (MB) L2cache). In at least one embodiment, CPU(s) 1406 (e.g., CCPLEX) may beconfigured to support simultaneous cluster operations enabling anycombination of clusters of CPU(s) 1406 to be active at any given time.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of CPU(s) 1406 may implementpower management capabilities that include, without limitation, one ormore of following features: individual hardware blocks may beclock-gated automatically when idle to save dynamic power; each coreclock may be gated when such core is not actively executing instructionsdue to execution of Wait for Interrupt (“WFI”)/Wait for Event (“WFE”)instructions; each core may be independently power-gated; each corecluster may be independently clock-gated when all cores are clock-gatedor power-gated; and/or each core cluster may be independentlypower-gated when all cores are power-gated. In at least one embodiment,CPU(s) 1406 may further implement an enhanced algorithm for managingpower states, where allowed power states and expected wakeup times arespecified, and hardware/microcode determines which best power state toenter for core, cluster, and CCPLEX. In at least one embodiment,processing cores may support simplified power state entry sequences insoftware with work offloaded to microcode.

In at least one embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 may include an integrated GPU(alternatively referred to herein as an “iGPU”). In at least oneembodiment, GPU(s) 1408 may be programmable and may be efficient forparallel workloads. In at least one embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 may use anenhanced tensor instruction set. In on embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 mayinclude one or more streaming microprocessors, where each streamingmicroprocessor may include a level one (“L1”) cache (e.g., an L1 cachewith at least 96 KB storage capacity), and two or more streamingmicroprocessors may share an L2 cache (e.g., an L2 cache with a 512 KBstorage capacity). In at least one embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 may includeat least eight streaming microprocessors. In at least one embodiment,GPU(s) 1408 may use compute application programming interface(s)(API(s)). In at least one embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 may use one or moreparallel computing platforms and/or programming models (e.g., NVIDIA'sCUDA model).

In at least one embodiment, one or more of GPU(s) 1408 may bepower-optimized for best performance in automotive and embedded usecases. For example, in one embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 could be fabricatedon Fin field-effect transistor (“FinFET”) circuitry. In at least oneembodiment, each streaming microprocessor may incorporate a number ofmixed-precision processing cores partitioned into multiple blocks. Forexample, and without limitation, 64 PF32 cores and 32 PF64 cores couldbe partitioned into four processing blocks. In at least one embodiment,each processing block could be allocated 16 FP32 cores, 8 FP64 cores, 16INT32 cores, two mixed-precision NVIDIA Tensor cores for deep learningmatrix arithmetic, a level zero (“L0”) instruction cache, a warpscheduler, a dispatch unit, and/or a 64 KB register file. In at leastone embodiment, streaming microprocessors may include independentparallel integer and floating-point data paths to provide for efficientexecution of workloads with a mix of computation and addressingcalculations. In at least one embodiment, streaming microprocessors mayinclude independent thread scheduling capability to enable finer-grainsynchronization and cooperation between parallel threads. In at leastone embodiment, streaming microprocessors may include a combined L1 datacache and shared memory unit in order to improve performance whilesimplifying programming.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of GPU(s) 1408 may include ahigh bandwidth memory (“HBM) and/or a 16 GB HBM2 memory subsystem toprovide, in some examples, about 900 GB/second peak memory bandwidth. Inat least one embodiment, in addition to, or alternatively from, HBMmemory, a synchronous graphics random-access memory (“SGRAM”) may beused, such as a graphics double data rate type five synchronousrandom-access memory (“GDDR5”).

In at least one embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 may include unified memorytechnology. In at least one embodiment, address translation services(“ATS”) support may be used to allow GPU(s) 1408 to access CPU(s) 1406page tables directly. In at least one embodiment, embodiment, when a GPUof GPU(s) 1408 memory management unit (“MMU”) experiences a miss, anaddress translation request may be transmitted to CPU(s) 1406. Inresponse, 2 CPU of CPU(s) 1406 may look in its page tables for avirtual-to-physical mapping for an address and transmit translation backto GPU(s) 1408, in at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,unified memory technology may allow a single unified virtual addressspace for memory of both CPU(s) 1406 and GPU(s) 1408, therebysimplifying GPU(s) 1408 programming and porting of applications toGPU(s) 1408.

In at least one embodiment, GPU(s) 1408 may include any number of accesscounters that may keep track of frequency of access of GPU(s) 1408 tomemory of other processors. In at least one embodiment, accesscounter(s) may help ensure that memory pages are moved to physicalmemory of a processor that is accessing pages most frequently, therebyimproving efficiency for memory ranges shared between processors.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of SoC(s) 1404 may include anynumber of cache(s) 1412, including those described herein. For example,in at least one embodiment, cache(s) 1412 could include a level three(“L3”) cache that is available to both CPU(s) 1406 and GPU(s) 1408(e.g., that is connected to CPU(s) 1406 and GPU(s) 1408). In at leastone embodiment, cache(s) 1412 may include a write-back cache that maykeep track of states of lines, such as by using a cache coherenceprotocol (e.g., MEI, MESI, MSI, etc.). In at least one embodiment, a L3cache may include 4 MB of memory or more, depending on embodiment,although smaller cache sizes may be used.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of SoC(s) 1404 may include oneor more accelerator(s) 1414 (e.g., hardware accelerators, softwareaccelerators, or a combination thereof). In at least one embodiment,SoC(s) 1404 may include a hardware acceleration cluster that may includeoptimized hardware accelerators and/or large on-chip memory. In at leastone embodiment, large on-chip memory (e.g., 4 MB of SRAM), may enable ahardware acceleration cluster to accelerate neural networks and othercalculations. In at least one embodiment, a hardware accelerationcluster may be used to complement GPU(s) 1408 and to off-load some oftasks of GPU(s) 1408 (e.g., to free up more cycles of GPU(s) 1408 forperforming other tasks). In at least one embodiment, accelerator(s) 1414could be used for targeted workloads (e.g., perception, convolutionalneural networks (“CNNs”), recurrent neural networks (“RNNs”), etc.) thatare stable enough to be amenable to acceleration. In at least oneembodiment, a CNN may include a region-based or regional convolutionalneural networks (“RCNNs”) and Fast RCNNs (e.g., as used for objectdetection) or other type of CNN.

In at least one embodiment, accelerator(s) 1414 (e.g., hardwareacceleration cluster) may include one or more deep learning accelerator(“DLA”). In at least one embodiment, DLA(s) may include, withoutlimitation, one or more Tensor processing units (“TPUs”) that may beconfigured to provide an additional ten trillion operations per secondfor deep learning applications and inferencing. In at least oneembodiment, TPUs may be accelerators configured to, and optimized for,performing image processing functions (e.g., for CNNs, RCNNs, etc.). Inat least one embodiment, DLA(s) may further be optimized for a specificset of neural network types and floating point operations, as well asinferencing. In at least one embodiment, design of DLA(s) may providemore performance per millimeter than a typical general-purpose GPU, andtypically vastly exceeds performance of a CPU. In at least oneembodiment, TPU(s) may perform several functions, including asingle-instance convolution function, supporting, for example, INT8,INT16, and FP16 data types for both features and weights, as well aspost-processor functions. In at least one embodiment, DLA(s) may quicklyand efficiently execute neural networks, especially CNNs, on processedor unprocessed data for any of a variety of functions, including, forexample and without limitation: a CNN for object identification anddetection using data from camera sensors; a CNN for distance estimationusing data from camera sensors; a CNN for emergency vehicle detectionand identification and detection using data from microphones; a CNN forfacial recognition and vehicle owner identification using data fromcamera sensors; and/or a CNN for security and/or safety related events.

In at least one embodiment, DLA(s) may perform any function of GPU(s)1408, and by using an inference accelerator, for example, a designer maytarget either DLA(s) or GPU(s) 1408 for any function. For example, in atleast one embodiment, a designer may focus processing of CNNs andfloating point operations on DLA(s) and leave other functions to GPU(s)1408 and/or accelerator(s) 1414.

In at least one embodiment, accelerator(s) 1414 may include programmablevision accelerator (“PVA”), which may alternatively be referred toherein as a computer vision accelerator. In at least one embodiment, PVAmay be designed and configured to accelerate computer vision algorithmsfor advanced driver assistance system (“ADAS”) 1438, autonomous driving,augmented reality (“AR”) applications, and/or virtual reality (“VR”)applications. In at least one embodiment, PVA may provide a balancebetween performance and flexibility. For example, in at least oneembodiment, each PVA may include, for example and without limitation,any number of reduced instruction set computer (“RISC”) cores, directmemory access (“DMA”), and/or any number of vector processors.

In at least one embodiment, RISC cores may interact with image sensors(e.g., image sensors of any cameras described herein), image signalprocessor(s), etc. In at least one embodiment, each RISC core mayinclude any amount of memory. In at least one embodiment, RISC cores mayuse any of a number of protocols, depending on embodiment. In at leastone embodiment, RISC cores may execute a real-time operating system(“RTOS”). In at least one embodiment, RISC cores may be implementedusing one or more integrated circuit devices, application specificintegrated circuits (“ASICs”), and/or memory devices. For example, in atleast one embodiment, RISC cores could include an instruction cacheand/or a tightly coupled RAM.

In at least one embodiment, DMA may enable components of PVA to accesssystem memory independently of CPU(s) 1406. In at least one embodiment,DMA may support any number of features used to provide optimization to aPVA including, but not limited to, supporting multi-dimensionaladdressing and/or circular addressing. In at least one embodiment, DMAmay support up to six or more dimensions of addressing, which mayinclude, without limitation, block width, block height, block depth,horizontal block stepping, vertical block stepping, and/or depthstepping.

In at least one embodiment, vector processors may be programmableprocessors that may be designed to efficiently and flexibly executeprogramming for computer vision algorithms and provide signal processingcapabilities. In at least one embodiment, a PVA may include a PVA coreand two vector processing subsystem partitions. In at least oneembodiment, a PVA core may include a processor subsystem, DMA engine(s)(e.g., two DMA engines), and/or other peripherals. In at least oneembodiment, a vector processing subsystem may operate as a primaryprocessing engine of a PVA, and may include a vector processing unit(“VPU”), an instruction cache, and/or vector memory (e.g., “VMEM”). Inat least one embodiment, VPU core may include a digital signal processorsuch as, for example, a single instruction, multiple data (“SIMD”), verylong instruction word (“VLIW”) digital signal processor. In at least oneembodiment, a combination of SIMD and VLIW may enhance throughput andspeed.

In at least one embodiment, each of vector processors may include aninstruction cache and may be coupled to dedicated memory. As a result,in at least one embodiment, each of vector processors may be configuredto execute independently of other vector processors. In at least oneembodiment, vector processors that are included in a particular PVA maybe configured to employ data parallelism. For instance, in at least oneembodiment, plurality of vector processors included in a single PVA mayexecute a common computer vision algorithm, but on different regions ofan image. In at least one embodiment, vector processors included in aparticular PVA may simultaneously execute different computer visionalgorithms, on one image, or even execute different algorithms onsequential images or portions of an image. In at least one embodiment,among other things, any number of PVAs may be included in hardwareacceleration cluster and any number of vector processors may be includedin each PVA. In at least one embodiment, PVA may include additionalerror correcting code (“ECC”) memory, to enhance overall system safety.

In at least one embodiment, accelerator(s) 1414 may include a computervision network on-chip and static random-access memory (“SRAM”), forproviding a high-bandwidth, low latency SRAM for accelerator(s) 1414. Inat least one embodiment, on-chip memory may include at least 4 MB SRAM,comprising, for example and without limitation, eight field-configurablememory blocks, that may be accessible by both a PVA and a DLA. In atleast one embodiment, each pair of memory blocks may include an advancedperipheral bus (“APB”) interface, configuration circuitry, a controller,and a multiplexer. In at least one embodiment, any type of memory may beused. In at least one embodiment, a PVA and a DLA may access memory viaa backbone that provides a PVA and a DLA with high-speed access tomemory. In at least one embodiment, a backbone may include a computervision network on-chip that interconnects a PVA and a DLA to memory(e.g., using APB).

In at least one embodiment, a computer vision network on-chip mayinclude an interface that determines, before transmission of any controlsignal/address/data, that both a PVA and a DLA provide ready and validsignals. In at least one embodiment, an interface may provide forseparate phases and separate channels for transmitting controlsignals/addresses/data, as well as burst-type communications forcontinuous data transfer. In at least one embodiment, an interface maycomply with International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) 26262or International Electrotechnical Commission (“IEC”) 61508 standards,although other standards and protocols may be used.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of SoC(s) 1404 may include areal-time ray-tracing hardware accelerator. In at least one embodiment,real-time ray-tracing hardware accelerator may be used to quickly andefficiently determine positions and extents of objects (e.g., within aworld model), to generate real-time visualization simulations, for RADARsignal interpretation, for sound propagation synthesis and/or analysis,for simulation of SONAR systems, for general wave propagationsimulation, for comparison to LIDAR data for purposes of localizationand/or other functions, and/or for other uses.

In at least one embodiment, accelerator(s) 1414 can have a wide array ofuses for autonomous driving. In at least one embodiment, a PVA may beused for key processing stages in ADAS and autonomous vehicles. In atleast one embodiment, a PVA's capabilities are a good match foralgorithmic domains needing predictable processing, at low power and lowlatency. In other words, a PVA performs well on semi-dense or denseregular computation, even on small data sets, which might requirepredictable run-times with low latency and low power. In at least oneembodiment, such as in vehicle 1400, PVAs might be designed to runclassic computer vision algorithms, as they can be efficient at objectdetection and operating on integer math.

For example, according to at least one embodiment of technology, a PVAis used to perform computer stereo vision. In at least one embodiment, asemi-global matching-based algorithm may be used in some examples,although this is not intended to be limiting. In at least oneembodiment, applications for Level 3-5 autonomous driving use motionestimation/stereo matching on-the-fly (e.g., structure from motion,pedestrian recognition, lane detection, etc.). In at least oneembodiment, a PVA may perform computer stereo vision functions on inputsfrom two monocular cameras.

In at least one embodiment, a PVA may be used to perform dense opticalflow. For example, in at least one embodiment, a PVA could process rawRADAR data (e.g., using a 4D Fast Fourier Transform) to provideprocessed RADAR data. In at least one embodiment, a PVA is used for timeof flight depth processing, by processing raw time of flight data toprovide processed time of flight data, for example.

In at least one embodiment, a DLA may be used to run any type of networkto enhance control and driving safety, including for example and withoutlimitation, a neural network that outputs a measure of confidence foreach object detection. In at least one embodiment, confidence may berepresented or interpreted as a probability, or as providing a relative“weight” of each detection compared to other detections. In at least oneembodiment, a confidence measure enables a system to make furtherdecisions regarding which detections should be considered as truepositive detections rather than false positive detections. In at leastone embodiment, a system may set a threshold value for confidence andconsider only detections exceeding threshold value as true positivedetections. In an embodiment in which an automatic emergency braking(“AEB”) system is used, false positive detections would cause vehicle toautomatically perform emergency braking, which is obviously undesirable.In at least one embodiment, highly confident detections may beconsidered as triggers for AEB. In at least one embodiment, a DLA mayrun a neural network for regressing confidence value. In at least oneembodiment, neural network may take as its input at least some subset ofparameters, such as bounding box dimensions, ground plane estimateobtained (e.g., from another subsystem), output from IMU sensor(s) 1466that correlates with vehicle 1400 orientation, distance, 3D locationestimates of object obtained from neural network and/or other sensors(e.g., LIDAR sensor(s) 1464 or RADAR sensor(s) 1460), among others.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of SoC(s) 1404 may include datastore(s) 1416 (e.g., memory). In at least one embodiment, data store(s)1416 may be on-chip memory of SoC(s) 1404, which may store neuralnetworks to be executed on GPU(s) 1408 and/or a DLA. In at least oneembodiment, data store(s) 1416 may be large enough in capacity to storemultiple instances of neural networks for redundancy and safety. In atleast one embodiment, data store(s) 1416 may comprise L2 or L3 cache(s).

In at least one embodiment, one or more of SoC(s) 1404 may include anynumber of processor(s) 1410 (e.g., embedded processors). In at least oneembodiment, processor(s) 1410 may include a boot and power managementprocessor that may be a dedicated processor and subsystem to handle bootpower and management functions and related security enforcement. In atleast one embodiment, a boot and power management processor may be apart of a boot sequence of SoC(s) 1404 and may provide runtime powermanagement services. In at least one embodiment, a boot power andmanagement processor may provide clock and voltage programming,assistance in system low power state transitions, management of SoC(s)1404 thermals and temperature sensors, and/or management of SoC(s) 1404power states. In at least one embodiment, each temperature sensor may beimplemented as a ring-oscillator whose output frequency is proportionalto temperature, and SoC(s) 1404 may use ring-oscillators to detecttemperatures of CPU(s) 1406, GPU(s) 1408, and/or accelerator(s) 1414. Inat least one embodiment, if temperatures are determined to exceed athreshold, then a boot and power management processor may enter atemperature fault routine and put SoC(s) 1404 into a lower power stateand/or put vehicle 1400 into a chauffeur to safe stop mode (e.g., bringvehicle 1400 to a safe stop).

In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 1410 may further include a setof embedded processors that may serve as an audio processing enginewhich may be an audio subsystem that enables full hardware support formulti-channel audio over multiple interfaces, and a broad and flexiblerange of audio I/O interfaces. In at least one embodiment, an audioprocessing engine is a dedicated processor core with a digital signalprocessor with dedicated RAM.

In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 1410 may further include analways-on processor engine that may provide necessary hardware featuresto support low power sensor management and wake use cases. In at leastone embodiment, an always-on processor engine may include, withoutlimitation, a processor core, a tightly coupled RAM, supportingperipherals (e.g., timers and interrupt controllers), various I/Ocontroller peripherals, and routing logic.

In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 1410 may further include asafety cluster engine that includes, without limitation, a dedicatedprocessor subsystem to handle safety management for automotiveapplications. In at least one embodiment, a safety cluster engine mayinclude, without limitation, two or more processor cores, a tightlycoupled RAM, support peripherals (e.g., timers, an interrupt controller,etc.), and/or routing logic. In a safety mode, two or more cores mayoperate, in at least one embodiment, in a lockstep mode and function asa single core with comparison logic to detect any differences betweentheir operations. In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 1410 mayfurther include a real-time camera engine that may include, withoutlimitation, a dedicated processor subsystem for handling real-timecamera management. In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 1410 mayfurther include a high-dynamic range signal processor that may include,without limitation, an image signal processor that is a hardware enginethat is part of a camera processing pipeline.

In at least one embodiment, processor(s) 1410 may include a video imagecompositor that may be a processing block (e.g., implemented on amicroprocessor) that implements video post-processing functions neededby a video playback application to produce a final image for a playerwindow. In at least one embodiment, a video image compositor may performlens distortion correction on wide-view camera(s) 1470, surroundcamera(s) 1474, and/or on in-cabin monitoring camera sensor(s). In atleast one embodiment, in-cabin monitoring camera sensor(s) arepreferably monitored by a neural network running on another instance ofSoC 1404, configured to identify in cabin events and respondaccordingly. In at least one embodiment, an in-cabin system may perform,without limitation, lip reading to activate cellular service and place aphone call, dictate emails, change a vehicle's destination, activate orchange a vehicle's infotainment system and settings, or providevoice-activated web surfing. In at least one embodiment, certainfunctions are available to a driver when a vehicle is operating in anautonomous mode and are disabled otherwise.

In at least one embodiment, a video image compositor may includeenhanced temporal noise reduction for both spatial and temporal noisereduction. For example, in at least one embodiment, where motion occursin a video, noise reduction weights spatial information appropriately,decreasing weights of information provided by adjacent frames. In atleast one embodiment, where an image or portion of an image does notinclude motion, temporal noise reduction performed by video imagecompositor may use information from a previous image to reduce noise ina current image.

In at least one embodiment, a video image compositor may also beconfigured to perform stereo rectification on input stereo lens frames.In at least one embodiment, a video image compositor may further be usedfor user interface composition when an operating system desktop is inuse, and GPU(s) 1408 are not required to continuously render newsurfaces. In at least one embodiment, when GPU(s) 1408 are powered onand active doing 3D rendering, a video image compositor may be used tooffload GPU(s) 1408 to improve performance and responsiveness.

In at least one embodiment, one or more SoC of SoC(s) 1404 may furtherinclude a mobile industry processor interface (“MIPI”) camera serialinterface for receiving video and input from cameras, a high-speedinterface, and/or a video input block that may be used for a camera andrelated pixel input functions. In at least one embodiment, one or moreof SoC(s) 1404 may further include an input/output controller(s) thatmay be controlled by software and may be used for receiving I/O signalsthat are uncommitted to a specific role.

In at least one embodiment, one or more Soc of SoC(s) 1404 may furtherinclude a broad range of peripheral interfaces to enable communicationwith peripherals, audio encoders/decoders (“codecs”), power management,and/or other devices. In at least one embodiment, SoC(s) 1404 may beused to process data from cameras (e.g., connected over GigabitMultimedia Serial Link and Ethernet channels), sensors (e.g., LIDARsensor(s) 1464, RADAR sensor(s) 1460, etc. that may be connected overEthernet channels), data from bus 1402 (e.g., speed of vehicle 1400,steering wheel position, etc.), data from GNSS sensor(s) 1458 (e.g.,connected over a Ethernet bus or a CAN bus), etc. In at least oneembodiment, one or more SoC of SoC(s) 1404 may further include dedicatedhigh-performance mass storage controllers that may include their own DMAengines, and that may be used to free CPU(s) 1406 from routine datamanagement tasks.

In at least one embodiment, SoC(s) 1404 may be an end-to-end platformwith a flexible architecture that spans automation Levels 3-5, therebyproviding a comprehensive functional safety architecture that leveragesand makes efficient use of computer vision and ADAS techniques fordiversity and redundancy, and provides a platform for a flexible,reliable driving software stack, along with deep learning tools. In atleast one embodiment, SoC(s) 1404 may be faster, more reliable, and evenmore energy-efficient and space-efficient than conventional systems. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, accelerator(s) 1414, when combinedwith CPU(s) 1406, GPU(s) 1408, and data store(s) 1416, may provide for afast, efficient platform for Level 3-5 autonomous vehicles.

In at least one embodiment, computer vision algorithms may be executedon CPUs, which may be configured using a high-level programminglanguage, such as C, to execute a wide variety of processing algorithmsacross a wide variety of visual data. However, in at least oneembodiment, CPUs are oftentimes unable to meet performance requirementsof many computer vision applications, such as those related to executiontime and power consumption, for example. In at least one embodiment,many CPUs are unable to execute complex object detection algorithms inreal-time, which is used in in-vehicle ADAS applications and inpractical Level 3-5 autonomous vehicles.

Embodiments described herein allow for multiple neural networks to beperformed simultaneously and/or sequentially, and for results to becombined together to enable Level 3-5 autonomous driving functionality.For example, in at least one embodiment, a CNN executing on a DLA or adiscrete GPU (e.g., GPU(s) 1420) may include text and word recognition,allowing reading and understanding of traffic signs, including signs forwhich a neural network has not been specifically trained. In at leastone embodiment, a DLA may further include a neural network that is ableto identify, interpret, and provide semantic understanding of a sign,and to pass that semantic understanding to path planning modules runningon a CPU Complex.

In at least one embodiment, multiple neural networks may be runsimultaneously, as for Level 3, 4, or 5 driving. For example, in atleast one embodiment, a warning sign stating “Caution: flashing lightsindicate icy conditions,” along with an electric light, may beindependently or collectively interpreted by several neural networks. Inat least one embodiment, such warning sign itself may be identified as atraffic sign by a first deployed neural network (e.g., a neural networkthat has been trained), text “flashing lights indicate icy conditions”may be interpreted by a second deployed neural network, which informs avehicle's path planning software (preferably executing on a CPU Complex)that when flashing lights are detected, icy conditions exist. In atleast one embodiment, a flashing light may be identified by operating athird deployed neural network over multiple frames, informing avehicle's path-planning software of a presence (or an absence) offlashing lights. In at least one embodiment, all three neural networksmay run simultaneously, such as within a DLA and/or on GPU(s) 1408.

In at least one embodiment, a CNN for facial recognition and vehicleowner identification may use data from camera sensors to identifypresence of an authorized driver and/or owner of vehicle 1400. In atleast one embodiment, an always-on sensor processing engine may be usedto unlock a vehicle when an owner approaches a driver door and turns onlights, and, in a security mode, to disable such vehicle when an ownerleaves such vehicle. In this way, SoC(s) 1404 provide for securityagainst theft and/or carjacking.

In at least one embodiment, a CNN for emergency vehicle detection andidentification may use data from microphones 1496 to detect and identifyemergency vehicle sirens. In at least one embodiment, SoC(s) 1404 use aCNN for classifying environmental and urban sounds, as well asclassifying visual data. In at least one embodiment, a CNN running on aDLA is trained to identify a relative closing speed of an emergencyvehicle (e.g., by using a Doppler effect). In at least one embodiment, aCNN may also be trained to identify emergency vehicles specific to alocal area in which a vehicle is operating, as identified by GNSSsensor(s) 1458. In at least one embodiment, when operating in Europe, aCNN will seek to detect European sirens, and when in North America, aCNN will seek to identify only North American sirens. In at least oneembodiment, once an emergency vehicle is detected, a control program maybe used to execute an emergency vehicle safety routine, slowing avehicle, pulling over to a side of a road, parking a vehicle, and/oridling a vehicle, with assistance of ultrasonic sensor(s) 1462, untilemergency vehicles pass.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include CPU(s) 1418 (e.g.,discrete CPU(s), or dCPU(s)), that may be coupled to SoC(s) 1404 via ahigh-speed interconnect (e.g., PCIe). In at least one embodiment, CPU(s)1418 may include an X86 processor, for example. CPU(s) 1418 may be usedto perform any of a variety of functions, including arbitratingpotentially inconsistent results between ADAS sensors and SoC(s) 1404,and/or monitoring status and health of controller(s) 1436 and/or aninfotainment system on a chip (“infotainment SoC”) 1430, for example.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include GPU(s) 1420 (e.g.,discrete GPU(s), or dGPU(s)), that may be coupled to SoC(s) 1404 via ahigh-speed interconnect (e.g., NVIDIA's NVLINK channel). In at least oneembodiment, GPU(s) 1420 may provide additional artificial intelligencefunctionality, such as by executing redundant and/or different neuralnetworks, and may be used to train and/or update neural networks basedat least in part on input (e.g., sensor data) from sensors of a vehicle1400.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include networkinterface 1424 which may include, without limitation, wirelessantenna(s) 1426 (e.g., one or more wireless antennas for differentcommunication protocols, such as a cellular antenna, a Bluetoothantenna, etc.). In at least one embodiment, network interface 1424 maybe used to enable wireless connectivity to Internet cloud services(e.g., with server(s) and/or other network devices), with othervehicles, and/or with computing devices (e.g., client devices ofpassengers). In at least one embodiment, to communicate with othervehicles, a direct link may be established between vehicle 140 andanother vehicle and/or an indirect link may be established (e.g., acrossnetworks and over the Internet). In at least one embodiment, directlinks may be provided using a vehicle-to-vehicle communication link. Inat least one embodiment, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication link mayprovide vehicle 1400 information about vehicles in proximity to vehicle1400 (e.g., vehicles in front of, on a side of, and/or behind vehicle1400). In at least one embodiment, such aforementioned functionality maybe part of a cooperative adaptive cruise control functionality ofvehicle 1400.

In at least one embodiment, network interface 1424 may include an SoCthat provides modulation and demodulation functionality and enablescontroller(s) 1436 to communicate over wireless networks. In at leastone embodiment, network interface 1424 may include a radio frequencyfront-end for up-conversion from baseband to radio frequency, and downconversion from radio frequency to baseband. In at least one embodiment,frequency conversions may be performed in any technically feasiblefashion. For example, frequency conversions could be performed throughwell-known processes, and/or using super-heterodyne processes. In atleast one embodiment, radio frequency front end functionality may beprovided by a separate chip. In at least one embodiment, networkinterfaces may include wireless functionality for communicating overLTE, WCDMA, UMTS, GSM, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi, Z-Wave,ZigBee, LoRaWAN, and/or other wireless protocols.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include datastore(s) 1428 which may include, without limitation, off-chip (e.g., offSoC(s) 1404) storage. In at least one embodiment, data store(s) 1428 mayinclude, without limitation, one or more storage elements including RAM,SRAM, dynamic random-access memory (“DRAM”), video random-access memory(“VRAM”), flash memory, hard disks, and/or other components and/ordevices that may store at least one bit of data.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include GNSSsensor(s) 1458 (e.g., GPS and/or assisted GPS sensors), to assist inmapping, perception, occupancy grid generation, and/or path planningfunctions. In at least one embodiment, any number of GNSS sensor(s) 1458may be used, including, for example and without limitation, a GPS usinga USB connector with an Ethernet-to-Serial (e.g., RS-232) bridge.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include RADARsensor(s) 1460. In at least one embodiment, RADAR sensor(s) 1460 may beused by vehicle 1400 for long-range vehicle detection, even in darknessand/or severe weather conditions. In at least one embodiment, RADARfunctional safety levels may be ASIL B. In at least one embodiment,RADAR sensor(s) 1460 may use a CAN bus and/or bus 1402 (e.g., totransmit data generated by RADAR sensor(s) 1460) for control and toaccess object tracking data, with access to Ethernet channels to accessraw data in some examples. In at least one embodiment, a wide variety ofRADAR sensor types may be used. For example, and without limitation,RADAR sensor(s) 1460 may be suitable for front, rear, and side RADARuse. In at least one embodiment, one or more sensor of RADAR sensors(s)1460 is a Pulse Doppler RADAR sensor.

In at least one embodiment, RADAR sensor(s) 1460 may include differentconfigurations, such as long-range with narrow field of view,short-range with wide field of view, short-range side coverage, etc. Inat least one embodiment, long-range RADAR may be used for adaptivecruise control functionality. In at least one embodiment, long-rangeRADAR systems may provide a broad field of view realized by two or moreindependent scans, such as within a 250 m (meter) range. In at least oneembodiment, RADAR sensor(s) 1460 may help in distinguishing betweenstatic and moving objects, and may be used by ADAS system 1438 foremergency brake assist and forward collision warning. In at least oneembodiment, sensors 1460(s) included in a long-range RADAR system mayinclude, without limitation, monostatic multimodal RADAR with multiple(e.g., six or more) fixed RADAR antennae and a high-speed CAN andFlexRay interface. In at least one embodiment, with six antennae, acentral four antennae may create a focused beam pattern, designed torecord vehicle's 1400 surroundings at higher speeds with minimalinterference from traffic in adjacent lanes. In at least one embodiment,another two antennae may expand field of view, making it possible toquickly detect vehicles entering or leaving a lane of vehicle 1400.

In at least one embodiment, mid-range RADAR systems may include, as anexample, a range of up to 160 m (front) or 80 m (rear), and a field ofview of up to 42 degrees (front) or 150 degrees (rear). In at least oneembodiment, short-range RADAR systems may include, without limitation,any number of RADAR sensor(s) 1460 designed to be installed at both endsof a rear bumper. When installed at both ends of a rear bumper, in atleast one embodiment, a RADAR sensor system may create two beams thatconstantly monitor blind spots in a rear direction and next to avehicle. In at least one embodiment, short-range RADAR systems may beused in ADAS system 1438 for blind spot detection and/or lane changeassist.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include ultrasonicsensor(s) 1462. In at least one embodiment, ultrasonic sensor(s) 1462,which may be positioned at a front, a back, and/or side location ofvehicle 1400, may be used for parking assist and/or to create and updatean occupancy grid. In at least one embodiment, a wide variety ofultrasonic sensor(s) 1462 may be used, and different ultrasonicsensor(s) 1462 may be used for different ranges of detection (e.g., 2.5m, 4 m). In at least one embodiment, ultrasonic sensor(s) 1462 mayoperate at functional safety levels of ASIL B.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include LIDAR sensor(s)1464. In at least one embodiment, LIDAR sensor(s) 1464 may be used forobject and pedestrian detection, emergency braking, collision avoidance,and/or other functions. In at least one embodiment, LIDAR sensor(s) 1464may operate at functional safety level ASIL B. In at least oneembodiment, vehicle 1400 may include multiple LIDAR sensors 1464 (e.g.,two, four, six, etc.) that may use a Ethernet channel (e.g., to providedata to a Gigabit Ethernet switch).

In at least one embodiment, LIDAR sensor(s) 1464 may be capable ofproviding a list of objects and their distances for a 360-degree fieldof view. In at least one embodiment, commercially available LIDARsensor(s) 1464 may have an advertised range of approximately 100 m, withan accuracy of 2 cm to 3 cm, and with support for a 100 Mbps Ethernetconnection, for example. In at least one embodiment, one or morenon-protruding LIDAR sensors may be used. In such an embodiment, LIDARsensor(s) 1464 may include a small device that may be embedded into afront, a rear, a side, and/or a corner location of vehicle 1400. In atleast one embodiment, LIDAR sensor(s) 1464, in such an embodiment, mayprovide up to a 120-degree horizontal and 35-degree verticalfield-of-view, with a 200 m range even for low-reflectivity objects. Inat least one embodiment, front-mounted LIDAR sensor(s) 1464 may beconfigured for a horizontal field of view between 45 degrees and 135degrees.

In at least one embodiment, LIDAR technologies, such as 3D flash LIDAR,may also be used. In at least one embodiment, 3D flash LIDAR uses aflash of a laser as a transmission source, to illuminate surroundings ofvehicle 1400 up to approximately 200 m. In at least one embodiment, aflash LIDAR unit includes, without limitation, a receptor, which recordslaser pulse transit time and reflected light on each pixel, which inturn corresponds to a range from vehicle 1400 to objects. In at leastone embodiment, flash LIDAR may allow for highly accurate anddistortion-free images of surroundings to be generated with every laserflash. In at least one embodiment, four flash LIDAR sensors may bedeployed, one at each side of vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment,3D flash LIDAR systems include, without limitation, a solid-state 3Dstaring array LIDAR camera with no moving parts other than a fan (e.g.,a non-scanning LIDAR device). In at least one embodiment, flash LIDARdevice may use a 5 nanosecond class I (eye-safe) laser pulse per frameand may capture reflected laser light as a 3D range point cloud andco-registered intensity data.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include IMUsensor(s) 1466. In at least one embodiment, IMU sensor(s) 1466 may belocated at a center of a rear axle of vehicle 1400. In at least oneembodiment, IMU sensor(s) 1466 may include, for example and withoutlimitation, accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), gyroscope(s), a magneticcompass, magnetic compasses, and/or other sensor types. In at least oneembodiment, such as in six-axis applications, IMU sensor(s) 1466 mayinclude, without limitation, accelerometers and gyroscopes. In at leastone embodiment, such as in nine-axis applications, IMU sensor(s) 1466may include, without limitation, accelerometers, gyroscopes, andmagnetometers.

In at least one embodiment, IMU sensor(s) 1466 may be implemented as aminiature, high performance GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System(“GPS/INS”) that combines micro-electro-mechanical systems (“MEMS”)inertial sensors, a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, and advanced Kalmanfiltering algorithms to provide estimates of position, velocity, andattitude. In at least one embodiment, IMU sensor(s) 1466 may enablevehicle 1400 to estimate its heading without requiring input from amagnetic sensor by directly observing and correlating changes invelocity from a GPS to IMU sensor(s) 1466. In at least one embodiment,IMU sensor(s) 1466 and GNSS sensor(s) 1458 may be combined in a singleintegrated unit.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include microphone(s) 1496placed in and/or around vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment,microphone(s) 1496 may be used for emergency vehicle detection andidentification, among other things.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include any numberof camera types, including stereo camera(s) 1468, wide-view camera(s)1470, infrared camera(s) 1472, surround camera(s) 1474, long-rangecamera(s) 1498, mid-range camera(s) 1476, and/or other camera types. Inat least one embodiment, cameras may be used to capture image dataaround an entire periphery of vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment,which types of cameras used depends on vehicle 1400. In at least oneembodiment, any combination of camera types may be used to providenecessary coverage around vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment, anumber of cameras deployed may differ depending on embodiment. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 could include sixcameras, seven cameras, ten cameras, twelve cameras, or another numberof cameras. In at least one embodiment, cameras may support, as anexample and without limitation, Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link (“GMSL”)and/or Gigabit Ethernet communications. In at least one embodiment, eachcamera might be as described with more detail previously herein withrespect to FIG. 14A and FIG. 14B.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include vibrationsensor(s) 1442. In at least one embodiment, vibration sensor(s) 1442 maymeasure vibrations of components of vehicle 1400, such as axle(s). Forexample, in at least one embodiment, changes in vibrations may indicatea change in road surfaces. In at least one embodiment, when two or morevibration sensors 1442 are used, differences between vibrations may beused to determine friction or slippage of road surface (e.g., when adifference in vibration is between a power-driven axle and a freelyrotating axle).

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may include ADAS system 1438.In at least one embodiment, ADAS system 1438 may include, withoutlimitation, an SoC, in some examples. In at least one embodiment, ADASsystem 1438 may include, without limitation, any number and combinationof an autonomous/adaptive/automatic cruise control (“ACC”) system, acooperative adaptive cruise control (“CACC”) system, a forward crashwarning (“FCW”) system, an automatic emergency braking (“AEB”) system, alane departure warning (“LDW)” system, a lane keep assist (“LKA”)system, a blind spot warning (“BSW”) system, a rear cross-trafficwarning (“RCTW”) system, a collision warning (“CW”) system, a lanecentering (“LC”) system, and/or other systems, features, and/orfunctionality.

In at least one embodiment, ACC system may use RADAR sensor(s) 1460,LIDAR sensor(s) 1464, and/or any number of camera(s). In at least oneembodiment, ACC system may include a longitudinal ACC system and/or alateral ACC system. In at least one embodiment, a longitudinal ACCsystem monitors and controls distance to another vehicle immediatelyahead of vehicle 1400 and automatically adjusts speed of vehicle 1400 tomaintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead. In at least oneembodiment, a lateral ACC system performs distance keeping, and advisesvehicle 1400 to change lanes when necessary. In at least one embodiment,a lateral ACC is related to other ADAS applications, such as LC and CW.

In at least one embodiment, a CACC system uses information from othervehicles that may be received via network interface 1424 and/or wirelessantenna(s) 1426 from other vehicles via a wireless link, or indirectly,over a network connection (e.g., over the Internet). In at least oneembodiment, direct links may be provided by a vehicle-to-vehicle (“V2V”)communication link, while indirect links may be provided by aninfrastructure-to-vehicle (“I2V”) communication link. In general, V2Vcommunication provides information about immediately preceding vehicles(e.g., vehicles immediately ahead of and in same lane as vehicle 1400),while I2V communication provides information about traffic furtherahead. In at least one embodiment, a CACC system may include either orboth I2V and V2V information sources. In at least one embodiment, giveninformation of vehicles ahead of vehicle 1400, a CACC system may be morereliable and it has potential to improve traffic flow smoothness andreduce congestion on road.

In at least one embodiment, an FCW system is designed to alert a driverto a hazard, so that such driver may take corrective action. In at leastone embodiment, an FCW system uses a front-facing camera and/or RADARsensor(s) 1460, coupled to a dedicated processor, DSP, FPGA, and/orASIC, that is electrically coupled to provide driver feedback, such as adisplay, speaker, and/or vibrating component. In at least oneembodiment, an FCW system may provide a warning, such as in form of asound, visual warning, vibration and/or a quick brake pulse.

In at least one embodiment, an AEB system detects an impending forwardcollision with another vehicle or other object, and may automaticallyapply brakes if a driver does not take corrective action within aspecified time or distance parameter. In at least one embodiment, AEBsystem may use front-facing camera(s) and/or RADAR sensor(s) 1460,coupled to a dedicated processor, DSP, FPGA, and/or ASIC. In at leastone embodiment, when an AEB system detects a hazard, it will typicallyfirst alert a driver to take corrective action to avoid collision and,if that driver does not take corrective action, that AEB system mayautomatically apply brakes in an effort to prevent, or at leastmitigate, an impact of a predicted collision. In at least oneembodiment, a AEB system may include techniques such as dynamic brakesupport and/or crash imminent braking.

In at least one embodiment, an LDW system provides visual, audible,and/or tactile warnings, such as steering wheel or seat vibrations, toalert driver when vehicle 1400 crosses lane markings. In at least oneembodiment, an LDW system does not activate when a driver indicates anintentional lane departure, such as by activating a turn signal. In atleast one embodiment, an LDW system may use front-side facing cameras,coupled to a dedicated processor, DSP, FPGA, and/or ASIC, that iselectrically coupled to provide driver feedback, such as a display,speaker, and/or vibrating component. In at least one embodiment, an LKAsystem is a variation of an LDW system. In at least one embodiment, anLKA system provides steering input or braking to correct vehicle 1400 ifvehicle 1400 starts to exit its lane.

In at least one embodiment, a BSW system detects and warns a driver ofvehicles in an automobile's blind spot. In at least one embodiment, aBSW system may provide a visual, audible, and/or tactile alert toindicate that merging or changing lanes is unsafe. In at least oneembodiment, a BSW system may provide an additional warning when a driveruses a turn signal. In at least one embodiment, a BSW system may userear-side facing camera(s) and/or RADAR sensor(s) 1460, coupled to adedicated processor, DSP, FPGA, and/or ASIC, that is electricallycoupled to driver feedback, such as a display, speaker, and/or vibratingcomponent.

In at least one embodiment, an RCTW system may provide visual, audible,and/or tactile notification when an object is detected outside arear-camera range when vehicle 1400 is backing up. In at least oneembodiment, an RCTW system includes an AEB system to ensure that vehiclebrakes are applied to avoid a crash. In at least one embodiment, an RCTWsystem may use one or more rear-facing RADAR sensor(s) 1460, coupled toa dedicated processor, DSP, FPGA, and/or ASIC, that is electricallycoupled to provide driver feedback, such as a display, speaker, and/orvibrating component.

In at least one embodiment, conventional ADAS systems may be prone tofalse positive results which may be annoying and distracting to adriver, but typically are not catastrophic, because conventional ADASsystems alert a driver and allow that driver to decide whether a safetycondition truly exists and act accordingly. In at least one embodiment,vehicle 1400 itself decides, in case of conflicting results, whether toheed result from a primary computer or a secondary computer (e.g., afirst controller or a second controller of controllers 1436). Forexample, in at least one embodiment, ADAS system 1438 may be a backupand/or secondary computer for providing perception information to abackup computer rationality module. In at least one embodiment, a backupcomputer rationality monitor may run redundant diverse software onhardware components to detect faults in perception and dynamic drivingtasks. In at least one embodiment, outputs from ADAS system 1438 may beprovided to a supervisory MCU. In at least one embodiment, if outputsfrom a primary computer and outputs from a secondary computer conflict,a supervisory MCU determines how to reconcile conflict to ensure safeoperation.

In at least one embodiment, a primary computer may be configured toprovide a supervisory MCU with a confidence score, indicating thatprimary computer's confidence in a chosen result. In at least oneembodiment, if that confidence score exceeds a threshold, thatsupervisory MCU may follow that primary computer's direction, regardlessof whether that secondary computer provides a conflicting orinconsistent result. In at least one embodiment, where a confidencescore does not meet a threshold, and where primary and secondarycomputers indicate different results (e.g., a conflict), a supervisoryMCU may arbitrate between computers to determine an appropriate outcome.

In at least one embodiment, a supervisory MCU may be configured to run aneural network(s) that is trained and configured to determine, based atleast in part on outputs from a primary computer and outputs from asecondary computer, conditions under which that secondary computerprovides false alarms. In at least one embodiment, neural network(s) ina supervisory MCU may learn when a secondary computer's output may betrusted, and when it cannot. For example, in at least one embodiment,when that secondary computer is a RADAR-based FCW system, a neuralnetwork(s) in that supervisory MCU may learn when an FCW system isidentifying metallic objects that are not, in fact, hazards, such as adrainage grate or manhole cover that triggers an alarm. In at least oneembodiment, when a secondary computer is a camera-based LDW system, aneural network in a supervisory MCU may learn to override LDW whenbicyclists or pedestrians are present and a lane departure is, in fact,a safest maneuver. In at least one embodiment, a supervisory MCU mayinclude at least one of a DLA or a GPU suitable for running neuralnetwork(s) with associated memory. In at least one embodiment, asupervisory MCU may comprise and/or be included as a component of SoC(s)1404.

In at least one embodiment, ADAS system 1438 may include a secondarycomputer that performs ADAS functionality using traditional rules ofcomputer vision. In at least one embodiment, that secondary computer mayuse classic computer vision rules (if-then), and presence of a neuralnetwork(s) in a supervisory MCU may improve reliability, safety andperformance. For example, in at least one embodiment, diverseimplementation and intentional non-identity makes an overall system morefault-tolerant, especially to faults caused by software (orsoftware-hardware interface) functionality. For example, in at least oneembodiment, if there is a software bug or error in software running on aprimary computer, and non-identical software code running on a secondarycomputer provides a consistent overall result, then a supervisory MCUmay have greater confidence that an overall result is correct, and a bugin software or hardware on that primary computer is not causing amaterial error.

In at least one embodiment, an output of ADAS system 1438 may be fedinto a primary computer's perception block and/or a primary computer'sdynamic driving task block. For example, in at least one embodiment, ifADAS system 1438 indicates a forward crash warning due to an objectimmediately ahead, a perception block may use this information whenidentifying objects. In at least one embodiment, a secondary computermay have its own neural network that is trained and thus reduces a riskof false positives, as described herein.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further includeinfotainment SoC 1430 (e.g., an in-vehicle infotainment system (IVI)).Although illustrated and described as an SoC, infotainment system SoC1430, in at least one embodiment, may not be an SoC, and may include,without limitation, two or more discrete components. In at least oneembodiment, infotainment SoC 1430 may include, without limitation, acombination of hardware and software that may be used to provide audio(e.g., music, a personal digital assistant, navigational instructions,news, radio, etc.), video (e.g., TV, movies, streaming, etc.), phone(e.g., hands-free calling), network connectivity (e.g., LTE, WiFi,etc.), and/or information services (e.g., navigation systems,rear-parking assistance, a radio data system, vehicle relatedinformation such as fuel level, total distance covered, brake fuellevel, oil level, door open/close, air filter information, etc.) tovehicle 1400. For example, infotainment SoC 1430 could include radios,disk players, navigation systems, video players, USB and Bluetoothconnectivity, carputers, in-car entertainment, WiFi, steering wheelaudio controls, hands free voice control, a heads-up display (“HUD”),HMI display 1434, a telematics device, a control panel (e.g., forcontrolling and/or interacting with various components, features, and/orsystems), and/or other components. In at least one embodiment,infotainment SoC 1430 may further be used to provide information (e.g.,visual and/or audible) to user(s) of vehicle 1400, such as informationfrom ADAS system 1438, autonomous driving information such as plannedvehicle maneuvers, trajectories, surrounding environment information(e.g., intersection information, vehicle information, road information,etc.), and/or other information.

In at least one embodiment, infotainment SoC 1430 may include any amountand type of GPU functionality. In at least one embodiment, infotainmentSoC 1430 may communicate over bus 1402 with other devices, systems,and/or components of vehicle 1400. In at least one embodiment,infotainment SoC 1430 may be coupled to a supervisory MCU such that aGPU of an infotainment system may perform some self-driving functions inevent that primary controller(s) 1436 (e.g., primary and/or backupcomputers of vehicle 1400) fail. In at least one embodiment,infotainment SoC 1430 may put vehicle 1400 into a chauffeur to safe stopmode, as described herein.

In at least one embodiment, vehicle 1400 may further include instrumentcluster 1432 (e.g., a digital dash, an electronic instrument cluster, adigital instrument panel, etc.). In at least one embodiment, instrumentcluster 1432 may include, without limitation, a controller and/orsupercomputer (e.g., a discrete controller or supercomputer). In atleast one embodiment, instrument cluster 1432 may include, withoutlimitation, any number and combination of a set of instrumentation suchas a speedometer, fuel level, oil pressure, tachometer, odometer, turnindicators, gearshift position indicator, seat belt warning light(s),parking-brake warning light(s), engine-malfunction light(s),supplemental restraint system (e.g., airbag) information, lightingcontrols, safety system controls, navigation information, etc. In someexamples, information may be displayed and/or shared among infotainmentSoC 1430 and instrument cluster 1432. In at least one embodiment,instrument cluster 1432 may be included as part of infotainment SoC1430, or vice versa.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 14C for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 14D is a diagram of a system 1476 for communication betweencloud-based server(s) and autonomous vehicle 1400 of FIG. 14A, accordingto at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, system 1476 mayinclude, without limitation, server(s) 1478, network(s) 1490, and anynumber and type of vehicles, including vehicle 1400. In at least oneembodiment, server(s) 1478 may include, without limitation, a pluralityof GPUs 1484(A)-1484(H) (collectively referred to herein as GPUs 1484),PCIe switches 1482(A)-1482(D) (collectively referred to herein as PCIeswitches 1482), and/or CPUs 1480(A)-1480(B) (collectively referred toherein as CPUs 1480). In at least one embodiment, GPUs 1484, CPUs 1480,and PCIe switches 1482 may be interconnected with high-speedinterconnects such as, for example and without limitation, NVLinkinterfaces 1488 developed by NVIDIA and/or PCIe connections 1486. In atleast one embodiment, GPUs 1484 are connected via an NVLink and/orNVSwitch SoC and GPUs 1484 and PCIe switches 1482 are connected via PCIeinterconnects. Although eight GPUs 1484, two CPUs 1480, and four PCIeswitches 1482 are illustrated, this is not intended to be limiting. Inat least one embodiment, each of server(s) 1478 may include, withoutlimitation, any number of GPUs 1484, CPUs 1480, and/or PCIe switches1482, in any combination. For example, in at least one embodiment,server(s) 1478 could each include eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and/ormore GPUs 1484.

In at least one embodiment, server(s) 1478 may receive, over network(s)1490 and from vehicles, image data representative of images showingunexpected or changed road conditions, such as recently commencedroad-work. In at least one embodiment, server(s) 1478 may transmit, overnetwork(s) 1490 and to vehicles, neural networks 1492, updated orotherwise, and/or map information 1494, including, without limitation,information regarding traffic and road conditions. In at least oneembodiment, updates to map information 1494 may include, withoutlimitation, updates for HD map 1422, such as information regardingconstruction sites, potholes, detours, flooding, and/or otherobstructions. In at least one embodiment, neural networks 1492, and/ormap information 1494 may have resulted from new training and/orexperiences represented in data received from any number of vehicles inan environment, and/or based at least in part on training performed at adata center (e.g., using server(s) 1478 and/or other servers).

In at least one embodiment, server(s) 1478 may be used to train machinelearning models (e.g., neural networks) based at least in part ontraining data. In at least one embodiment, training data may begenerated by vehicles, and/or may be generated in a simulation (e.g.,using a game engine). In at least one embodiment, any amount of trainingdata is tagged (e.g., where associated neural network benefits fromsupervised learning) and/or undergoes other pre-processing. In at leastone embodiment, any amount of training data is not tagged and/orpre-processed (e.g., where associated neural network does not requiresupervised learning). In at least one embodiment, once machine learningmodels are trained, machine learning models may be used by vehicles(e.g., transmitted to vehicles over network(s) 1490), and/or machinelearning models may be used by server(s) 1478 to remotely monitorvehicles.

In at least one embodiment, server(s) 1478 may receive data fromvehicles and apply data to up-to-date real-time neural networks forreal-time intelligent inferencing. In at least one embodiment, server(s)1478 may include deep-learning supercomputers and/or dedicated AIcomputers powered by GPU(s) 1484, such as a DGX and DGX Station machinesdeveloped by NVIDIA. However, in at least one embodiment, server(s) 1478may include deep learning infrastructure that uses CPU-powered datacenters.

In at least one embodiment, deep-learning infrastructure of server(s)1478 may be capable of fast, real-time inferencing, and may use thatcapability to evaluate and verify health of processors, software, and/orassociated hardware in vehicle 1400. For example, in at least oneembodiment, deep-learning infrastructure may receive periodic updatesfrom vehicle 1400, such as a sequence of images and/or objects thatvehicle 1400 has located in that sequence of images (e.g., via computervision and/or other machine learning object classification techniques).In at least one embodiment, deep-learning infrastructure may run its ownneural network to identify objects and compare them with objectsidentified by vehicle 1400 and, if results do not match anddeep-learning infrastructure concludes that AI in vehicle 1400 ismalfunctioning, then server(s) 1478 may transmit a signal to vehicle1400 instructing a fail-safe computer of vehicle 1400 to assume control,notify passengers, and complete a safe parking maneuver.

In at least one embodiment, server(s) 1478 may include GPU(s) 1484 andone or more programmable inference accelerators (e.g., NVIDIA's TensorRT3 devices). In at least one embodiment, a combination of GPU-poweredservers and inference acceleration may make real-time responsivenesspossible. In at least one embodiment, such as where performance is lesscritical, servers powered by CPUs, FPGAs, and other processors may beused for inferencing. In at least one embodiment, hardware structure(s)1115 are used to perform one or more embodiments. Details regardinghardware structure(x) 1115 are provided herein in conjunction with FIGS.11A and/or 11B.

Computer Systems

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system,which may be a system with interconnected devices and components, asystem-on-a-chip (SOC) or some combination thereof formed with aprocessor that may include execution units to execute an instruction,according to at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, acomputer system 1500 may include, without limitation, a component, suchas a processor 1502 to employ execution units including logic to performalgorithms for process data, in accordance with present disclosure, suchas in embodiment described herein. In at least one embodiment, computersystem 1500 may include processors, such as PENTIUM® Processor family,Xeon™ Itanium®, XScale™ and/or StrongARM™, Intel® Core™, or Intel®Nervana™ microprocessors available from Intel Corporation of SantaClara, California, although other systems (including PCs having othermicroprocessors, engineering workstations, set-top boxes and like) mayalso be used. In at least one embodiment, computer system 1500 mayexecute a version of WINDOWS operating system available from MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond, Wash., although other operating systems (UNIXand Linux, for example), embedded software, and/or graphical userinterfaces, may also be used.

Embodiments may be used in other devices such as handheld devices andembedded applications. Some examples of handheld devices includecellular phones, Internet Protocol devices, digital cameras, personaldigital assistants (“PDAs”), and handheld PCs. In at least oneembodiment, embedded applications may include a microcontroller, adigital signal processor (“DSP”), system on a chip, network computers(“NetPCs”), set-top boxes, network hubs, wide area network (“WAN”)switches, or any other system that may perform one or more instructionsin accordance with at least one embodiment.

In at least one embodiment, computer system 1500 may include, withoutlimitation, processor 1502 that may include, without limitation, one ormore execution units 1508 to perform machine learning model trainingand/or inferencing according to techniques described herein. In at leastone embodiment, computer system 1500 is a single processor desktop orserver system, but in another embodiment, computer system 1500 may be amultiprocessor system. In at least one embodiment, processor 1502 mayinclude, without limitation, a complex instruction set computer (“CISC”)microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computing (“RISC”)microprocessor, a very long instruction word (“VLIW”) microprocessor, aprocessor implementing a combination of instruction sets, or any otherprocessor device, such as a digital signal processor, for example. In atleast one embodiment, processor 1502 may be coupled to a processor bus1510 that may transmit data signals between processor 1502 and othercomponents in computer system 1500.

In at least one embodiment, processor 1502 may include, withoutlimitation, a Level 1 (“L1”) internal cache memory (“cache”) 1504. In atleast one embodiment, processor 1502 may have a single internal cache ormultiple levels of internal cache. In at least one embodiment, cachememory may reside external to processor 1502. Other embodiments may alsoinclude a combination of both internal and external caches depending onparticular implementation and needs. In at least one embodiment, aregister file 1506 may store different types of data in variousregisters including, without limitation, integer registers, floatingpoint registers, status registers, and an instruction pointer register.

In at least one embodiment, execution unit 1508, including, withoutlimitation, logic to perform integer and floating point operations, alsoresides in processor 1502. In at least one embodiment, processor 1502may also include a microcode (“ucode”) read only memory (“ROM”) thatstores microcode for certain macro instructions. In at least oneembodiment, execution unit 1508 may include logic to handle a packedinstruction set 1509. In at least one embodiment, by including packedinstruction set 1509 in an instruction set of a general-purposeprocessor, along with associated circuitry to execute instructions,operations used by many multimedia applications may be performed usingpacked data in processor 1502. In one or more embodiments, manymultimedia applications may be accelerated and executed more efficientlyby using a full width of a processor's data bus for performingoperations on packed data, which may eliminate a need to transfersmaller units of data across that processor's data bus to perform one ormore operations one data element at a time.

In at least one embodiment, execution unit 1508 may also be used inmicrocontrollers, embedded processors, graphics devices, DSPs, and othertypes of logic circuits. In at least one embodiment, computer system1500 may include, without limitation, a memory 1520. In at least oneembodiment, memory 1520 may be a Dynamic Random Access Memory (“DRAM”)device, a Static Random Access Memory (“SRAM”) device, a flash memorydevice, or another memory device. In at least one embodiment, memory1520 may store instruction(s) 1519 and/or data 1521 represented by datasignals that may be executed by processor 1502.

In at least one embodiment, a system logic chip may be coupled toprocessor bus 1510 and memory 1520. In at least one embodiment, a systemlogic chip may include, without limitation, a memory controller hub(“MCH”) 1516, and processor 1502 may communicate with MCH 1516 viaprocessor bus 1510. In at least one embodiment, MCH 1516 may provide ahigh bandwidth memory path 1518 to memory 1520 for instruction and datastorage and for storage of graphics commands, data and textures. In atleast one embodiment, MCH 1516 may direct data signals between processor1502, memory 1520, and other components in computer system 1500 and tobridge data signals between processor bus 1510, memory 1520, and asystem I/O interface 1522. In at least one embodiment, a system logicchip may provide a graphics port for coupling to a graphics controller.In at least one embodiment, MCH 1516 may be coupled to memory 1520through high bandwidth memory path 1518 and a graphics/video card 1512may be coupled to MCH 1516 through an Accelerated Graphics Port (“AGP”)interconnect 1514.

In at least one embodiment, computer system 1500 may use system I/Ointerface 1522 as a proprietary hub interface bus to couple MCH 1516 toan I/O controller hub (“ICH”) 1530. In at least one embodiment, ICH 1530may provide direct connections to some I/O devices via a local I/O bus.In at least one embodiment, a local I/O bus may include, withoutlimitation, a high-speed I/O bus for connecting peripherals to memory1520, a chipset, and processor 1502. Examples may include, withoutlimitation, an audio controller 1529, a firmware hub (“flash BIOS”)1528, a wireless transceiver 1526, a data storage 1524, a legacy I/Ocontroller 1523 containing user input and keyboard interfaces, a serialexpansion port 1527, such as a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) port, and anetwork controller 1534. In at least one embodiment, data storage 1524may comprise a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a CD-ROM device, aflash memory device, or other mass storage device.

In at least one embodiment, FIG. 15 illustrates a system, which includesinterconnected hardware devices or “chips”, whereas in otherembodiments, FIG. 15 may illustrate an exemplary SoC. In at least oneembodiment, devices illustrated in FIG. 15 may be interconnected withproprietary interconnects, standardized interconnects (e.g., PCIe) orsome combination thereof. In at least one embodiment, one or morecomponents of computer system 1500 are interconnected using computeexpress link (CXL) interconnects.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 15 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device 1600 forutilizing a processor 1610, according to at least one embodiment. In atleast one embodiment, electronic device 1600 may be, for example andwithout limitation, a notebook, a tower server, a rack server, a bladeserver, a laptop, a desktop, a tablet, a mobile device, a phone, anembedded computer, or any other suitable electronic device.

In at least one embodiment, electronic device 1600 may include, withoutlimitation, processor 1610 communicatively coupled to any suitablenumber or kind of components, peripherals, modules, or devices. In atleast one embodiment, processor 1610 is coupled using a bus orinterface, such as a I²C bus, a System Management Bus (“SMBus”), a LowPin Count (LPC) bus, a Serial Peripheral Interface (“SPI”), a HighDefinition Audio (“HDA”) bus, a Serial Advance Technology Attachment(“SATA”) bus, a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) (versions 1, 2, 3, etc.),or a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (“UART”) bus. In atleast one embodiment, FIG. 16 illustrates a system, which includesinterconnected hardware devices or “chips”, whereas in otherembodiments, FIG. 16 may illustrate an exemplary SoC. In at least oneembodiment, devices illustrated in FIG. 16 may be interconnected withproprietary interconnects, standardized interconnects (e.g., PCIe) orsome combination thereof. In at least one embodiment, one or morecomponents of FIG. 16 are interconnected using compute express link(CXL) interconnects.

In at least one embodiment, FIG. 16 may include a display 1624, a touchscreen 1625, a touch pad 1630, a Near Field Communications unit (“NFC”)1645, a sensor hub 1640, a thermal sensor 1646, an Express Chipset(“EC”) 1635, a Trusted Platform Module (“TPM”) 1638, BIOS/firmware/flashmemory (“BIOS, FW Flash”) 1622, a DSP 1660, a drive 1620 such as a SolidState Disk (“SSD”) or a Hard Disk Drive (“HDD”), a wireless local areanetwork unit (“WLAN”) 1650, a Bluetooth unit 1652, a Wireless Wide AreaNetwork unit (“WWAN”) 1656, a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit 1655,a camera (“USB 3.0 camera”) 1654 such as a USB 3.0 camera, and/or a LowPower Double Data Rate (“LPDDR”) memory unit (“LPDDR3”) 1615 implementedin, for example, an LPDDR3 standard. These components may each beimplemented in any suitable manner.

In at least one embodiment, other components may be communicativelycoupled to processor 1610 through components described herein. In atleast one embodiment, an accelerometer 1641, an ambient light sensor(“ALS”) 1642, a compass 1643, and a gyroscope 1644 may becommunicatively coupled to sensor hub 1640. In at least one embodiment,a thermal sensor 1639, a fan 1637, a keyboard 1636, and touch pad 1630may be communicatively coupled to EC 1635. In at least one embodiment,speakers 1663, headphones 1664, and a microphone (“mic”) 1665 may becommunicatively coupled to an audio unit (“audio codec and class D amp”)1662, which may in turn be communicatively coupled to DSP 1660. In atleast one embodiment, audio unit 1662 may include, for example andwithout limitation, an audio coder/decoder (“codec”) and a class Damplifier. In at least one embodiment, a SIM card (“SIM”) 1657 may becommunicatively coupled to WWAN unit 1656. In at least one embodiment,components such as WLAN unit 1650 and Bluetooth unit 1652, as well asWWAN unit 1656 may be implemented in a Next Generation Form Factor(“NGFF”).

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 16 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 17 illustrates a computer system 1700, according to at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, computer system 1700 isconfigured to implement various processes and methods describedthroughout this disclosure.

In at least one embodiment, computer system 1700 comprises, withoutlimitation, at least one central processing unit (“CPU”) 1702 that isconnected to a communication bus 1710 implemented using any suitableprotocol, such as PCI (“Peripheral Component Interconnect”), peripheralcomponent interconnect express (“PCI-Express”), AGP (“AcceleratedGraphics Port”), HyperTransport, or any other bus or point-to-pointcommunication protocol(s). In at least one embodiment, computer system1700 includes, without limitation, a main memory 1704 and control logic(e.g., implemented as hardware, software, or a combination thereof) anddata are stored in main memory 1704, which may take form of randomaccess memory (“RAM”). In at least one embodiment, a network interfacesubsystem (“network interface”) 1722 provides an interface to othercomputing devices and networks for receiving data from and transmittingdata to other systems with computer system 1700.

In at least one embodiment, computer system 1700, in at least oneembodiment, includes, without limitation, input devices 1708, a parallelprocessing system 1712, and display devices 1706 that can be implementedusing a conventional cathode ray tube (“CRT”), a liquid crystal display(“LCD”), a light emitting diode (“LED”) display, a plasma display, orother suitable display technologies. In at least one embodiment, userinput is received from input devices 1708 such as keyboard, mouse,touchpad, microphone, etc. In at least one embodiment, each moduledescribed herein can be situated on a single semiconductor platform toform a processing system.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 17 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 18 illustrates a computer system 1800, according to at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, computer system 1800 includes,without limitation, a computer 1810 and a USB stick 1820. In at leastone embodiment, computer 1810 may include, without limitation, anynumber and type of processor(s) (not shown) and a memory (not shown). Inat least one embodiment, computer 1810 includes, without limitation, aserver, a cloud instance, a laptop, and a desktop computer.

In at least one embodiment, USB stick 1820 includes, without limitation,a processing unit 1830, a USB interface 1840, and USB interface logic1850. In at least one embodiment, processing unit 1830 may be anyinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device capable of executinginstructions. In at least one embodiment, processing unit 1830 mayinclude, without limitation, any number and type of processing cores(not shown). In at least one embodiment, processing unit 1830 comprisesan application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) that is optimized toperform any amount and type of operations associated with machinelearning. For instance, in at least one embodiment, processing unit 1830is a tensor processing unit (“TPC”) that is optimized to perform machinelearning inference operations. In at least one embodiment, processingunit 1830 is a vision processing unit (“VPU”) that is optimized toperform machine vision and machine learning inference operations.

In at least one embodiment, USB interface 1840 may be any type of USBconnector or USB socket. For instance, in at least one embodiment, USBinterface 1840 is a USB 3.0 Type-C socket for data and power. In atleast one embodiment, USB interface 1840 is a USB 3.0 Type-A connector.In at least one embodiment, USB interface logic 1850 may include anyamount and type of logic that enables processing unit 1830 to interfacewith devices (e.g., computer 1810) via USB connector 1840.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 18 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 19A illustrates an exemplary architecture in which a plurality ofGPUs 1910(1)-1910(N) is communicatively coupled to a plurality ofmulti-core processors 1905(1)-1905(M) over high-speed links1940(1)-1940(N) (e.g., buses, point-to-point interconnects, etc.). In atleast one embodiment, high-speed links 1940(1)-1940(N) support acommunication throughput of 4 GB/s, 30 GB/s, 80 GB/s or higher. In atleast one embodiment, various interconnect protocols may be usedincluding, but not limited to, PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 and NVLink 2.0. Invarious figures, “N” and “M” represent positive integers, values ofwhich may be different from figure to figure.

In addition, and in one embodiment, two or more of GPUs 1910 areinterconnected over high-speed links 1929(1)-1929(2), which may beimplemented using similar or different protocols/links than those usedfor high-speed links 1940(1)-1940(N). Similarly, two or more ofmulti-core processors 1905 may be connected over a high-speed link 1928which may be symmetric multi-processor (SMP) buses operating at 20 GB/s,30 GB/s, 120 GB/s or higher. Alternatively, all communication betweenvarious system components shown in FIG. 19A may be accomplished usingsimilar protocols/links (e.g., over a common interconnection fabric).

In one embodiment, each multi-core processor 1905 is communicativelycoupled to a processor memory 1901(1)-1901(M), via memory interconnects1926(1)-1926(M), respectively, and each GPU 1910(1)-1910(N) iscommunicatively coupled to GPU memory 1920(1)-1920(N) over GPU memoryinterconnects 1950(1)-1950(N), respectively. In at least one embodiment,memory interconnects 1926 and 1950 may utilize similar or differentmemory access technologies. By way of example, and not limitation,processor memories 1901(1)-1901(M) and GPU memories 1920 may be volatilememories such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) (includingstacked DRAMs), Graphics DDR SDRAM (GDDR) (e.g., GDDR5, GDDR6), or HighBandwidth Memory (HBM) and/or may be non-volatile memories such as 3DXPoint or Nano-Ram. In at least one embodiment, some portion ofprocessor memories 1901 may be volatile memory and another portion maybe non-volatile memory (e.g., using a two-level memory (2LM) hierarchy).

As described herein, although various multi-core processors 1905 andGPUs 1910 may be physically coupled to a particular memory 1901, 1920,respectively, and/or a unified memory architecture may be implemented inwhich a virtual system address space (also referred to as “effectiveaddress” space) is distributed among various physical memories. Forexample, processor memories 1901(1)-1901(M) may each comprise 64 GB ofsystem memory address space and GPU memories 1920(1)-1920(N) may eachcomprise 32 GB of system memory address space resulting in a total of256 GB addressable memory when M=2 and N=4. Other values for N and M arepossible.

FIG. 19B illustrates additional details for an interconnection between amulti-core processor 1907 and a graphics acceleration module 1946 inaccordance with one exemplary embodiment. In at least one embodiment,graphics acceleration module 1946 may include one or more GPU chipsintegrated on a line card which is coupled to processor 1907 viahigh-speed link 1940 (e.g., a PCIe bus, NVLink, etc.). In at least oneembodiment, graphics acceleration module 1946 may alternatively beintegrated on a package or chip with processor 1907.

In at least one embodiment, processor 1907 includes a plurality of cores1960A-1960D, each with a translation lookaside buffer (“TLB”)1961A-1961D and one or more caches 1962A-1962D. In at least oneembodiment, cores 1960A-1960D may include various other components forexecuting instructions and processing data that are not illustrated. Inat least one embodiment, caches 1962A-1962D may comprise Level 1 (L1)and Level 2 (L2) caches. In addition, one or more shared caches 1956 maybe included in caches 1962A-1962D and shared by sets of cores1960A-1960D. For example, one embodiment of processor 1907 includes 24cores, each with its own L1 cache, twelve shared L2 caches, and twelveshared L3 caches. In this embodiment, one or more L2 and L3 caches areshared by two adjacent cores. In at least one embodiment, processor 1907and graphics acceleration module 1946 connect with system memory 1914,which may include processor memories 1901(1)-1901(M) of FIG. 19A.

In at least one embodiment, coherency is maintained for data andinstructions stored in various caches 1962A-1962D, 1956 and systemmemory 1914 via inter-core communication over a coherence bus 1964. Inat least one embodiment, for example, each cache may have cachecoherency logic/circuitry associated therewith to communicate to overcoherence bus 1964 in response to detected reads or writes to particularcache lines. In at least one embodiment, a cache snooping protocol isimplemented over coherence bus 1964 to snoop cache accesses.

In at least one embodiment, a proxy circuit 1925 communicatively couplesgraphics acceleration module 1946 to coherence bus 1964, allowinggraphics acceleration module 1946 to participate in a cache coherenceprotocol as a peer of cores 1960A-1960D. In particular, in at least oneembodiment, an interface 1935 provides connectivity to proxy circuit1925 over high-speed link 1940 and an interface 1937 connects graphicsacceleration module 1946 to high-speed link 1940.

In at least one embodiment, an accelerator integration circuit 1936provides cache management, memory access, context management, andinterrupt management services on behalf of a plurality of graphicsprocessing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) of graphics acceleration module 1946.In at least one embodiment, graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N)may each comprise a separate graphics processing unit (GPU). In at leastone embodiment, graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N)alternatively may comprise different types of graphics processingengines within a GPU, such as graphics execution units, media processingengines (e.g., video encoders/decoders), samplers, and blit engines. Inat least one embodiment, graphics acceleration module 1946 may be a GPUwith a plurality of graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) orgraphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) may be individual GPUsintegrated on a common package, line card, or chip.

In at least one embodiment, accelerator integration circuit 1936includes a memory management unit (MMU) 1939 for performing variousmemory management functions such as virtual-to-physical memorytranslations (also referred to as effective-to-real memory translations)and memory access protocols for accessing system memory 1914. In atleast one embodiment, MMU 1939 may also include a translation lookasidebuffer (TLB) (not shown) for caching virtual/effective to physical/realaddress translations. In at least one embodiment, a cache 1938 can storecommands and data for efficient access by graphics processing engines1931(1)-1931(N). In at least one embodiment, data stored in cache 1938and graphics memories 1933(1)-1933(M) is kept coherent with core caches1962A-1962D, 1956 and system memory 1914, possibly using a fetch unit1944. As mentioned, this may be accomplished via proxy circuit 1925 onbehalf of cache 1938 and memories 1933(1)-1933(M) (e.g., sending updatesto cache 1938 related to modifications/accesses of cache lines onprocessor caches 1962A-1962D, 1956 and receiving updates from cache1938).

In at least one embodiment, a set of registers 1945 store context datafor threads executed by graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) anda context management circuit 1948 manages thread contexts. For example,context management circuit 1948 may perform save and restore operationsto save and restore contexts of various threads during contexts switches(e.g., where a first thread is saved and a second thread is stored sothat a second thread can be execute by a graphics processing engine).For example, on a context switch, context management circuit 1948 maystore current register values to a designated region in memory (e.g.,identified by a context pointer). It may then restore register valueswhen returning to a context. In at least one embodiment, an interruptmanagement circuit 1947 receives and processes interrupts received fromsystem devices.

In one implementation, virtual/effective addresses from a graphicsprocessing engine 1931 are translated to real/physical addresses insystem memory 1914 by MMU 1939. In at least one embodiment, acceleratorintegration circuit 1936 supports multiple (e.g., 4, 8, 16) graphicsaccelerator modules 1946 and/or other accelerator devices. In at leastone embodiment, graphics accelerator module 1946 may be dedicated to asingle application executed on processor 1907 or may be shared betweenmultiple applications. In at least one embodiment, a virtualizedgraphics execution environment is presented in which resources ofgraphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) are shared with multipleapplications or virtual machines (VMs). In at least one embodiment,resources may be subdivided into “slices” which are allocated todifferent VMs and/or applications based on processing requirements andpriorities associated with VMs and/or applications.

In at least one embodiment, accelerator integration circuit 1936performs as a bridge to a system for graphics acceleration module 1946and provides address translation and system memory cache services. Inaddition, in at least one embodiment, accelerator integration circuit1936 may provide virtualization facilities for a host processor tomanage virtualization of graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N),interrupts, and memory management.

In at least one embodiment, because hardware resources of graphicsprocessing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) are mapped explicitly to a realaddress space seen by host processor 1907, any host processor canaddress these resources directly using an effective address value. In atleast one embodiment, one function of accelerator integration circuit1936 is physical separation of graphics processing engines1931(1)-1931(N) so that they appear to a system as independent units.

In at least one embodiment, one or more graphics memories1933(1)-1933(M) are coupled to each of graphics processing engines1931(1)-1931(N), respectively and N=M. In at least one embodiment,graphics memories 1933(1)-1933(M) store instructions and data beingprocessed by each of graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N). In atleast one embodiment, graphics memories 1933(1)-1933(M) may be volatilememories such as DRAMs (including stacked DRAMs), GDDR memory (e.g.,GDDR5, GDDR6), or HBM, and/or may be non-volatile memories such as 3DXPoint or Nano-Ram.

In one embodiment, to reduce data traffic over high-speed link 1940,biasing techniques are used to ensure that data stored in graphicsmemories 1933(1)-1933(M) is data which will be used most frequently bygraphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) and preferably not used bycores 1960A-1960D (at least not frequently). Similarly, in at least oneembodiment, a biasing mechanism attempts to keep data needed by cores(and preferably not graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N)) withincaches 1962A-1962D, 1956 and system memory 1914.

FIG. 19C illustrates another exemplary embodiment in which acceleratorintegration circuit 1936 is integrated within processor 1907. In thisembodiment, graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) communicatedirectly over high-speed link 1940 to accelerator integration circuit1936 via interface 1937 and interface 1935 (which, again, may be anyform of bus or interface protocol). In at least one embodiment,accelerator integration circuit 1936 may perform similar operations asthose described with respect to FIG. 19B, but potentially at a higherthroughput given its close proximity to coherence bus 1964 and caches1962A-1962D, 1956. One embodiment supports different programming modelsincluding a dedicated-process programming model (no graphicsacceleration module virtualization) and shared programming models (withvirtualization), which may include programming models which arecontrolled by accelerator integration circuit 1936 and programmingmodels which are controlled by graphics acceleration module 1946.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N)are dedicated to a single application or process under a singleoperating system. In at least one embodiment, a single application canfunnel other application requests to graphics processing engines1931(1)-1931(N), providing virtualization within a VM/partition.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N),may be shared by multiple VM/application partitions. In at least oneembodiment, shared models may use a system hypervisor to virtualizegraphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) to allow access by eachoperating system. In at least one embodiment, for single-partitionsystems without a hypervisor, graphics processing engines1931(1)-1931(N) are owned by an operating system. In at least oneembodiment, an operating system can virtualize graphics processingengines 1931(1)-1931(N) to provide access to each process orapplication.

In at least one embodiment, graphics acceleration module 1946 or anindividual graphics processing engine 1931(1)-1931(N) selects a processelement using a process handle. In at least one embodiment, processelements are stored in system memory 1914 and are addressable using aneffective address to real address translation technique describedherein. In at least one embodiment, a process handle may be animplementation-specific value provided to a host process whenregistering its context with graphics processing engine 1931(1)-1931(N)(that is, calling system software to add a process element to a processelement linked list). In at least one embodiment, a lower 16-bits of aprocess handle may be an offset of a process element within a processelement linked list.

FIG. 19D illustrates an exemplary accelerator integration slice 1990. Inat least one embodiment, a “slice” comprises a specified portion ofprocessing resources of accelerator integration circuit 1936. In atleast one embodiment, an application is effective address space 1982within system memory 1914 stores process elements 1983. In at least oneembodiment, process elements 1983 are stored in response to GPUinvocations 1981 from applications 1980 executed on processor 1907. Inat least one embodiment, a process element 1983 contains process statefor corresponding application 1980. In at least one embodiment, a workdescriptor (WD) 1984 contained in process element 1983 can be a singlejob requested by an application or may contain a pointer to a queue ofjobs. In at least one embodiment, WD 1984 is a pointer to a job requestqueue in an application's effective address space 1982.

In at least one embodiment, graphics acceleration module 1946 and/orindividual graphics processing engines 1931(1)-1931(N) can be shared byall or a subset of processes in a system. In at least one embodiment, aninfrastructure for setting up process states and sending a WD 1984 to agraphics acceleration module 1946 to start a job in a virtualizedenvironment may be included.

In at least one embodiment, a dedicated-process programming model isimplementation-specific. In at least one embodiment, in this model, asingle process owns graphics acceleration module 1946 or an individualgraphics processing engine 1931. In at least one embodiment, whengraphics acceleration module 1946 is owned by a single process, ahypervisor initializes accelerator integration circuit 1936 for anowning partition and an operating system initializes acceleratorintegration circuit 1936 for an owning process when graphicsacceleration module 1946 is assigned.

In at least one embodiment, in operation, a WD fetch unit 1991 inaccelerator integration slice 1990 fetches next WD 1984, which includesan indication of work to be done by one or more graphics processingengines of graphics acceleration module 1946. In at least oneembodiment, data from WD 1984 may be stored in registers 1945 and usedby MMU 1939, interrupt management circuit 1947 and/or context managementcircuit 1948 as illustrated. For example, one embodiment of MMU 1939includes segment/page walk circuitry for accessing segment/page tables1986 within an OS virtual address space 1985. In at least oneembodiment, interrupt management circuit 1947 may process interruptevents 1992 received from graphics acceleration module 1946. In at leastone embodiment, when performing graphics operations, an effectiveaddress 1993 generated by a graphics processing engine 1931(1)-1931(N)is translated to a real address by MMU 1939.

In one embodiment, registers 1945 are duplicated for each graphicsprocessing engine 1931(1)-1931(N) and/or graphics acceleration module1946 and may be initialized by a hypervisor or an operating system. Inat least one embodiment, each of these duplicated registers may beincluded in an accelerator integration slice 1990. Exemplary registersthat may be initialized by a hypervisor are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Hypervisor Initialized Registers Register # Description 1 SliceControl Register 2 Real Address (RA) Scheduled Processes Area Pointer 3Authority Mask Override Register 4 Interrupt Vector Table Entry Offset 5Interrupt Vector Table Entry Limit 6 State Register 7 Logical PartitionID 8 Real address (RA) Hypervisor Accelerator Utilization Record Pointer9 Storage Description Register

Exemplary registers that may be initialized by an operating system areshown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Operating System Initialized Registers Register # Description 1Process and Thread Identification 2 Effective Address (EA) ContextSave/Restore Pointer 3 Virtual Address (VA) Accelerator UtilizationRecord Pointer 4 Virtual Address (VA) Storage Segment Table Pointer 5Authority Mask 6 Work descriptor

In at least one embodiment, each WD 1984 is specific to a particulargraphics acceleration module 1946 and/or graphics processing engines1931(1)-1931(N). In at least one embodiment, it contains all informationrequired by a graphics processing engine 1931(1)-1931(N) to do work, orit can be a pointer to a memory location where an application has set upa command queue of work to be completed.

FIG. 19E illustrates additional details for one exemplary embodiment ofa shared model. This embodiment includes a hypervisor real address space1998 in which a process element list 1999 is stored. In at least oneembodiment, hypervisor real address space 1998 is accessible via ahypervisor 1996 which virtualizes graphics acceleration module enginesfor operating system 1995.

In at least one embodiment, shared programming models allow for all or asubset of processes from all or a subset of partitions in a system touse a graphics acceleration module 1946. In at least one embodiment,there are two programming models where graphics acceleration module 1946is shared by multiple processes and partitions, namely time-slicedshared and graphics directed shared.

In at least one embodiment, in this model, system hypervisor 1996 ownsgraphics acceleration module 1946 and makes its function available toall operating systems 1995. In at least one embodiment, for a graphicsacceleration module 1946 to support virtualization by system hypervisor1996, graphics acceleration module 1946 may adhere to certainrequirements, such as (1) an application's job request must beautonomous (that is, state does not need to be maintained between jobs),or graphics acceleration module 1946 must provide a context save andrestore mechanism, (2) an application's job request is guaranteed bygraphics acceleration module 1946 to complete in a specified amount oftime, including any translation faults, or graphics acceleration module1946 provides an ability to preempt processing of a job, and (3)graphics acceleration module 1946 must be guaranteed fairness betweenprocesses when operating in a directed shared programming model.

In at least one embodiment, application 1980 is required to make anoperating system 1995 system call with a graphics acceleration moduletype, a work descriptor (WD), an authority mask register (AMR) value,and a context save/restore area pointer (CSRP). In at least oneembodiment, graphics acceleration module type describes a targetedacceleration function for a system call. In at least one embodiment,graphics acceleration module type may be a system-specific value. In atleast one embodiment, WD is formatted specifically for graphicsacceleration module 1946 and can be in a form of a graphics accelerationmodule 1946 command, an effective address pointer to a user-definedstructure, an effective address pointer to a queue of commands, or anyother data structure to describe work to be done by graphicsacceleration module 1946.

In at least one embodiment, an AMR value is an AMR state to use for acurrent process. In at least one embodiment, a value passed to anoperating system is similar to an application setting an AMR. In atleast one embodiment, if accelerator integration circuit 1936 (notshown) and graphics acceleration module 1946 implementations do notsupport a User Authority Mask Override Register (UAMOR), an operatingsystem may apply a current UAMOR value to an AMR value before passing anAMR in a hypervisor call. In at least one embodiment, hypervisor 1996may optionally apply a current Authority Mask Override Register (AMOR)value before placing an AMR into process element 1983. In at least oneembodiment, CSRP is one of registers 1945 containing an effectiveaddress of an area in an application's effective address space 1982 forgraphics acceleration module 1946 to save and restore context state. Inat least one embodiment, this pointer is optional if no state isrequired to be saved between jobs or when a job is preempted. In atleast one embodiment, context save/restore area may be pinned systemmemory.

Upon receiving a system call, operating system 1995 may verify thatapplication 1980 has registered and been given authority to use graphicsacceleration module 1946. In at least one embodiment, operating system1995 then calls hypervisor 1996 with information shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 OS to Hypervisor Call Parameters Parameter # Description 1 Awork descriptor (WD) 2 An Authority Mask Register (AMR) value(potentially masked) 3 An effective address (EA) Context Save/RestoreArea Pointer (CSRP) 4 A process ID (PID) and optional thread ID (TID) 5A virtual address (VA) accelerator utilization record pointer (AURP) 6Virtual address of storage segment table pointer (SSTP) 7 A logicalinterrupt service number (LISN)

In at least one embodiment, upon receiving a hypervisor call, hypervisor1996 verifies that operating system 1995 has registered and been givenauthority to use graphics acceleration module 1946. In at least oneembodiment, hypervisor 1996 then puts process element 1983 into aprocess element linked list for a corresponding graphics accelerationmodule 1946 type. In at least one embodiment, a process element mayinclude information shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Process Element Information Element # Description 1 A workdescriptor (WD) 2 An Authority Mask Register (AMR) value (potentiallymasked). 3 An effective address (EA) Context Save/Restore Area Pointer(CSRP) 4 A process ID (PID) and optional thread ID (TID) 5 A virtualaddress (VA) accelerator utilization record pointer (AURP) 6 Virtualaddress of storage segment table pointer (SSTP) 7 A logical interruptservice number (LISN) 8 Interrupt vector table, derived from hypervisorcall parameters 9 A state register (SR) value 10 A logical partition ID(LPID) 11 A real address (RA) hypervisor accelerator utilization recordpointer 12 Storage Descriptor Register (SDR)

In at least one embodiment, hypervisor initializes a plurality ofaccelerator integration slice 1990 registers 1945.

As illustrated in FIG. 19F, in at least one embodiment, a unified memoryis used, addressable via a common virtual memory address space used toaccess physical processor memories 1901(1)-1901(N) and GPU memories1920(1)-1920(N). In this implementation, operations executed on GPUs1910(1)-1910(N) utilize a same virtual/effective memory address space toaccess processor memories 1901(1)-1901(M) and vice versa, therebysimplifying programmability. In at least one embodiment, a first portionof a virtual/effective address space is allocated to processor memory1901(1), a second portion to second processor memory 1901(N), a thirdportion to GPU memory 1920(1), and so on. In at least one embodiment, anentire virtual/effective memory space (sometimes referred to as aneffective address space) is thereby distributed across each of processormemories 1901 and GPU memories 1920, allowing any processor or GPU toaccess any physical memory with a virtual address mapped to that memory.

In one embodiment, bias/coherence management circuitry 1994A-1994Ewithin one or more of MMUs 1939A-1939E ensures cache coherence betweencaches of one or more host processors (e.g., 1905) and GPUs 1910 andimplements biasing techniques indicating physical memories in whichcertain types of data should be stored. In at least one embodiment,while multiple instances of bias/coherence management circuitry1994A-1994E are illustrated in FIG. 19F, bias/coherence circuitry may beimplemented within an MMU of one or more host processors 1905 and/orwithin accelerator integration circuit 1936.

One embodiment allows GPU memories 1920 to be mapped as part of systemmemory, and accessed using shared virtual memory (SVM) technology, butwithout suffering performance drawbacks associated with full systemcache coherence. In at least one embodiment, an ability for GPU memories1920 to be accessed as system memory without onerous cache coherenceoverhead provides a beneficial operating environment for GPU offload. Inat least one embodiment, this arrangement allows software of hostprocessor 1905 to setup operands and access computation results, withoutoverhead of tradition I/O DMA data copies. In at least one embodiment,such traditional copies involve driver calls, interrupts and memorymapped I/O (MMIO) accesses that are all inefficient relative to simplememory accesses. In at least one embodiment, an ability to access GPUmemories 1920 without cache coherence overheads can be critical toexecution time of an offloaded computation. In at least one embodiment,in cases with substantial streaming write memory traffic, for example,cache coherence overhead can significantly reduce an effective writebandwidth seen by a GPU 1910. In at least one embodiment, efficiency ofoperand setup, efficiency of results access, and efficiency of GPUcomputation may play a role in determining effectiveness of a GPUoffload.

In at least one embodiment, selection of GPU bias and host processorbias is driven by a bias tracker data structure. In at least oneembodiment, a bias table may be used, for example, which may be apage-granular structure (e.g., controlled at a granularity of a memorypage) that includes 1 or 2 bits per GPU-attached memory page. In atleast one embodiment, a bias table may be implemented in a stolen memoryrange of one or more GPU memories 1920, with or without a bias cache ina GPU 1910 (e.g., to cache frequently/recently used entries of a biastable). Alternatively, in at least one embodiment, an entire bias tablemay be maintained within a GPU.

In at least one embodiment, a bias table entry associated with eachaccess to a GPU attached memory 1920 is accessed prior to actual accessto a GPU memory, causing following operations. In at least oneembodiment, local requests from a GPU 1910 that find their page in GPUbias are forwarded directly to a corresponding GPU memory 1920. In atleast one embodiment, local requests from a GPU that find their page inhost bias are forwarded to processor 1905 (e.g., over a high-speed linkas described herein). In at least one embodiment, requests fromprocessor 1905 that find a requested page in host processor biascomplete a request like a normal memory read. Alternatively, requestsdirected to a GPU-biased page may be forwarded to a GPU 1910. In atleast one embodiment, a GPU may then transition a page to a hostprocessor bias if it is not currently using a page. In at least oneembodiment, a bias state of a page can be changed either by asoftware-based mechanism, a hardware-assisted software-based mechanism,or, for a limited set of cases, a purely hardware-based mechanism.

In at least one embodiment, one mechanism for changing bias stateemploys an API call (e.g., OpenCL), which, in turn, calls a GPU's devicedriver which, in turn, sends a message (or enqueues a commanddescriptor) to a GPU directing it to change a bias state and, for sometransitions, perform a cache flushing operation in a host. In at leastone embodiment, a cache flushing operation is used for a transition fromhost processor 1905 bias to GPU bias, but is not for an oppositetransition.

In one embodiment, cache coherency is maintained by temporarilyrendering GPU-biased pages uncacheable by host processor 1905. In atleast one embodiment, to access these pages, processor 1905 may requestaccess from GPU 1910, which may or may not grant access right away. Inat least one embodiment, thus, to reduce communication between processor1905 and GPU 1910 it is beneficial to ensure that GPU-biased pages arethose which are required by a GPU but not host processor 1905 and viceversa.

Hardware structure(s) 1115 are used to perform one or more embodiments.Details regarding a hardware structure(s) 1115 may be provided herein inconjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B.

FIG. 20 illustrates exemplary integrated circuits and associatedgraphics processors that may be fabricated using one or more IP cores,according to various embodiments described herein. In addition to whatis illustrated, other logic and circuits may be included in at least oneembodiment, including additional graphics processors/cores, peripheralinterface controllers, or general-purpose processor cores.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system on a chipintegrated circuit 2000 that may be fabricated using one or more IPcores, according to at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,integrated circuit 2000 includes one or more application processor(s)2005 (e.g., CPUs), at least one graphics processor 2010, and mayadditionally include an image processor 2015 and/or a video processor2020, any of which may be a modular IP core. In at least one embodiment,integrated circuit 2000 includes peripheral or bus logic including a USBcontroller 2025, a UART controller 2030, an SPI/SDIO controller 2035,and an I²2S/I²2C controller 2040. In at least one embodiment, integratedcircuit 2000 can include a display device 2045 coupled to one or more ofa high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) controller 2050 and amobile industry processor interface (MIPI) display interface 2055. In atleast one embodiment, storage may be provided by a flash memorysubsystem 2060 including flash memory and a flash memory controller. Inat least one embodiment, a memory interface may be provided via a memorycontroller 2065 for access to SDRAM or SRAM memory devices. In at leastone embodiment, some integrated circuits additionally include anembedded security engine 2070.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used inintegrated circuit 2000 for inferencing or predicting operations based,at least in part, on weight parameters calculated using neural networktraining operations, neural network functions and/or architectures, orneural network use cases described herein.

FIGS. 21A-21B illustrate exemplary integrated circuits and associatedgraphics processors that may be fabricated using one or more IP cores,according to various embodiments described herein. In addition to whatis illustrated, other logic and circuits may be included in at least oneembodiment, including additional graphics processors/cores, peripheralinterface controllers, or general-purpose processor cores.

FIGS. 21A-21B are block diagrams illustrating exemplary graphicsprocessors for use within an SoC, according to embodiments describedherein. FIG. 21A illustrates an exemplary graphics processor 2110 of asystem on a chip integrated circuit that may be fabricated using one ormore IP cores, according to at least one embodiment. FIG. 21Billustrates an additional exemplary graphics processor 2140 of a systemon a chip integrated circuit that may be fabricated using one or more IPcores, according to at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,graphics processor 2110 of FIG. 21A is a low power graphics processorcore. In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2140 of FIG. 21B isa higher performance graphics processor core. In at least oneembodiment, each of graphics processors 2110, 2140 can be variants ofgraphics processor 2010 of FIG. 20 .

In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2110 includes a vertexprocessor 2105 and one or more fragment processor(s) 2115A-2115N (e.g.,2115A, 2115B, 2115C, 2115D, through 2115N-1, and 2115N). In at least oneembodiment, graphics processor 2110 can execute different shaderprograms via separate logic, such that vertex processor 2105 isoptimized to execute operations for vertex shader programs, while one ormore fragment processor(s) 2115A-2115N execute fragment (e.g., pixel)shading operations for fragment or pixel shader programs. In at leastone embodiment, vertex processor 2105 performs a vertex processing stageof a 3D graphics pipeline and generates primitives and vertex data. Inat least one embodiment, fragment processor(s) 2115A-2115N use primitiveand vertex data generated by vertex processor 2105 to produce aframebuffer that is displayed on a display device. In at least oneembodiment, fragment processor(s) 2115A-2115N are optimized to executefragment shader programs as provided for in an OpenGL API, which may beused to perform similar operations as a pixel shader program as providedfor in a Direct 3D API.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2110 additionallyincludes one or more memory management units (MMUs) 2120A-2120B,cache(s) 2125A-2125B, and circuit interconnect(s) 2130A-2130B. In atleast one embodiment, one or more MMU(s) 2120A-2120B provide for virtualto physical address mapping for graphics processor 2110, including forvertex processor 2105 and/or fragment processor(s) 2115A-2115N, whichmay reference vertex or image/texture data stored in memory, in additionto vertex or image/texture data stored in one or more cache(s)2125A-2125B. In at least one embodiment, one or more MMU(s) 2120A-2120Bmay be synchronized with other MMUs within a system, including one ormore MMUs associated with one or more application processor(s) 2005,image processors 2015, and/or video processors 2020 of FIG. 20 , suchthat each processor 2005-2020 can participate in a shared or unifiedvirtual memory system. In at least one embodiment, one or more circuitinterconnect(s) 2130A-2130B enable graphics processor 2110 to interfacewith other IP cores within SoC, either via an internal bus of SoC or viaa direct connection.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2140 includes one or moreshader core(s) 2155A-2155N (e.g., 2155A, 2155B, 2155C, 2155D, 2155E,2155F, through 2155N-1, and 2155N) as shown in FIG. 21B, which providesfor a unified shader core architecture in which a single core or type orcore can execute all types of programmable shader code, including shaderprogram code to implement vertex shaders, fragment shaders, and/orcompute shaders. In at least one embodiment, a number of shader corescan vary. In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2140 includesan inter-core task manager 2145, which acts as a thread dispatcher todispatch execution threads to one or more shader cores 2155A-2155N and atiling unit 2158 to accelerate tiling operations for tile-basedrendering, in which rendering operations for a scene are subdivided inimage space, for example to exploit local spatial coherence within ascene or to optimize use of internal caches.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used inintegrated circuit 21A and/or 21B for inferencing or predictingoperations based, at least in part, on weight parameters calculatedusing neural network training operations, neural network functionsand/or architectures, or neural network use cases described herein.

FIGS. 22A-22B illustrate additional exemplary graphics processor logicaccording to embodiments described herein. FIG. 22A illustrates agraphics core 2200 that may be included within graphics processor 2010of FIG. 20 , in at least one embodiment, and may be a unified shadercore 2155A-2155N as in FIG. 21B in at least one embodiment. FIG. 22Billustrates a highly-parallel general-purpose graphics processing unit(“GPGPU”) 2230 suitable for deployment on a multi-chip module in atleast one embodiment.

In at least one embodiment, graphics core 2200 includes a sharedinstruction cache 2202, a texture unit 2218, and a cache/shared memory2220 that are common to execution resources within graphics core 2200.In at least one embodiment, graphics core 2200 can include multipleslices 2201A-2201N or a partition for each core, and a graphicsprocessor can include multiple instances of graphics core 2200. In atleast one embodiment, slices 2201A-2201N can include support logicincluding a local instruction cache 2204A-2204N, a thread scheduler2206A-2206N, a thread dispatcher 2208A-2208N, and a set of registers2210A-2210N. In at least one embodiment, slices 2201A-2201N can includea set of additional function units (AFUs 2212A-2212N), floating-pointunits (FPUs 2214A-2214N), integer arithmetic logic units (ALUs2216A-2216N), address computational units (ACUs 2213A-2213N),double-precision floating-point units (DPFPUs 2215A-2215N), and matrixprocessing units (MPUs 2217A-2217N).

In at least one embodiment, FPUs 2214A-2214N can performsingle-precision (32-bit) and half-precision (16-bit) floating pointoperations, while DPFPUs 2215A-2215N perform double precision (64-bit)floating point operations. In at least one embodiment, ALUs 2216A-2216Ncan perform variable precision integer operations at 8-bit, 16-bit, and32-bit precision, and can be configured for mixed precision operations.In at least one embodiment, MPUs 2217A-2217N can also be configured formixed precision matrix operations, including half-precision floatingpoint and 8-bit integer operations. In at least one embodiment, MPUs2217-2217N can perform a variety of matrix operations to acceleratemachine learning application frameworks, including enabling support foraccelerated general matrix to matrix multiplication (GEMM). In at leastone embodiment, AFUs 2212A-2212N can perform additional logic operationsnot supported by floating-point or integer units, includingtrigonometric operations (e.g., sine, cosine, etc.).

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in graphicscore 2200 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 22B illustrates a general-purpose processing unit (GPGPU) 2230 thatcan be configured to enable highly-parallel compute operations to beperformed by an array of graphics processing units, in at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, GPGPU 2230 can be linkeddirectly to other instances of GPGPU 2230 to create a multi-GPU clusterto improve training speed for deep neural networks. In at least oneembodiment, GPGPU 2230 includes a host interface 2232 to enable aconnection with a host processor. In at least one embodiment, hostinterface 2232 is a PCI Express interface. In at least one embodiment,host interface 2232 can be a vendor-specific communications interface orcommunications fabric. In at least one embodiment, GPGPU 2230 receivescommands from a host processor and uses a global scheduler 2234 todistribute execution threads associated with those commands to a set ofcompute clusters 2236A-2236H. In at least one embodiment, computeclusters 2236A-2236H share a cache memory 2238. In at least oneembodiment, cache memory 2238 can serve as a higher-level cache forcache memories within compute clusters 2236A-2236H.

In at least one embodiment, GPGPU 2230 includes memory 2244A-2244Bcoupled with compute clusters 2236A-2236H via a set of memorycontrollers 2242A-2242B. In at least one embodiment, memory 2244A-2244Bcan include various types of memory devices including dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) or graphics random access memory, such assynchronous graphics random access memory (SGRAM), including graphicsdouble data rate (GDDR) memory.

In at least one embodiment, compute clusters 2236A-2236H each include aset of graphics cores, such as graphics core 2200 of FIG. 22A, which caninclude multiple types of integer and floating point logic units thatcan perform computational operations at a range of precisions includingsuited for machine learning computations. For example, in at least oneembodiment, at least a subset of floating point units in each of computeclusters 2236A-2236H can be configured to perform 16-bit or 32-bitfloating point operations, while a different subset of floating pointunits can be configured to perform 64-bit floating point operations.

In at least one embodiment, multiple instances of GPGPU 2230 can beconfigured to operate as a compute cluster. In at least one embodiment,communication used by compute clusters 2236A-2236H for synchronizationand data exchange varies across embodiments. In at least one embodiment,multiple instances of GPGPU 2230 communicate over host interface 2232.In at least one embodiment, GPGPU 2230 includes an I/O hub 2239 thatcouples GPGPU 2230 with a GPU link 2240 that enables a direct connectionto other instances of GPGPU 2230. In at least one embodiment, GPU link2240 is coupled to a dedicated GPU-to-GPU bridge that enablescommunication and synchronization between multiple instances of GPGPU2230. In at least one embodiment, GPU link 2240 couples with ahigh-speed interconnect to transmit and receive data to other GPGPUs orparallel processors. In at least one embodiment, multiple instances ofGPGPU 2230 are located in separate data processing systems andcommunicate via a network device that is accessible via host interface2232. In at least one embodiment GPU link 2240 can be configured toenable a connection to a host processor in addition to or as analternative to host interface 2232.

In at least one embodiment, GPGPU 2230 can be configured to train neuralnetworks. In at least one embodiment, GPGPU 2230 can be used within aninferencing platform. In at least one embodiment, in which GPGPU 2230 isused for inferencing, GPGPU 2230 may include fewer compute clusters2236A-2236H relative to when GPGPU 2230 is used for training a neuralnetwork. In at least one embodiment, memory technology associated withmemory 2244A-2244B may differ between inferencing and trainingconfigurations, with higher bandwidth memory technologies devoted totraining configurations. In at least one embodiment, an inferencingconfiguration of GPGPU 2230 can support inferencing specificinstructions. For example, in at least one embodiment, an inferencingconfiguration can provide support for one or more 8-bit integer dotproduct instructions, which may be used during inferencing operationsfor deployed neural networks.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in GPGPU2230 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least in part,on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system 2300according to at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,computing system 2300 includes a processing subsystem 2301 having one ormore processor(s) 2302 and a system memory 2304 communicating via aninterconnection path that may include a memory hub 2305. In at least oneembodiment, memory hub 2305 may be a separate component within a chipsetcomponent or may be integrated within one or more processor(s) 2302. Inat least one embodiment, memory hub 2305 couples with an I/O subsystem2311 via a communication link 2306. In at least one embodiment, I/Osubsystem 2311 includes an I/O hub 2307 that can enable computing system2300 to receive input from one or more input device(s) 2308. In at leastone embodiment, I/O hub 2307 can enable a display controller, which maybe included in one or more processor(s) 2302, to provide outputs to oneor more display device(s) 2310A. In at least one embodiment, one or moredisplay device(s) 2310A coupled with I/O hub 2307 can include a local,internal, or embedded display device.

In at least one embodiment, processing subsystem 2301 includes one ormore parallel processor(s) 2312 coupled to memory hub 2305 via a bus orother communication link 2313. In at least one embodiment, communicationlink 2313 may use one of any number of standards based communicationlink technologies or protocols, such as, but not limited to PCI Express,or may be a vendor-specific communications interface or communicationsfabric. In at least one embodiment, one or more parallel processor(s)2312 form a computationally focused parallel or vector processing systemthat can include a large number of processing cores and/or processingclusters, such as a many-integrated core (MIC) processor. In at leastone embodiment, some or all of parallel processor(s) 2312 form agraphics processing subsystem that can output pixels to one of one ormore display device(s) 2310A coupled via I/O Hub 2307. In at least oneembodiment, parallel processor(s) 2312 can also include a displaycontroller and display interface (not shown) to enable a directconnection to one or more display device(s) 2310B.

In at least one embodiment, a system storage unit 2314 can connect toI/O hub 2307 to provide a storage mechanism for computing system 2300.In at least one embodiment, an I/O switch 2316 can be used to provide aninterface mechanism to enable connections between I/O hub 2307 and othercomponents, such as a network adapter 2318 and/or a wireless networkadapter 2319 that may be integrated into platform, and various otherdevices that can be added via one or more add-in device(s) 2320. In atleast one embodiment, network adapter 2318 can be an Ethernet adapter oranother wired network adapter. In at least one embodiment, wirelessnetwork adapter 2319 can include one or more of a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, nearfield communication (NFC), or other network device that includes one ormore wireless radios.

In at least one embodiment, computing system 2300 can include othercomponents not explicitly shown, including USB or other portconnections, optical storage drives, video capture devices, and like,may also be connected to I/O hub 2307. In at least one embodiment,communication paths interconnecting various components in FIG. 23 may beimplemented using any suitable protocols, such as PCI (PeripheralComponent Interconnect) based protocols (e.g., PCI-Express), or otherbus or point-to-point communication interfaces and/or protocol(s), suchas NV-Link high-speed interconnect, or interconnect protocols.

In at least one embodiment, parallel processor(s) 2312 incorporatecircuitry optimized for graphics and video processing, including, forexample, video output circuitry, and constitutes a graphics processingunit (GPU). In at least one embodiment, parallel processor(s) 2312incorporate circuitry optimized for general purpose processing. In atleast embodiment, components of computing system 2300 may be integratedwith one or more other system elements on a single integrated circuit.For example, in at least one embodiment, parallel processor(s) 2312,memory hub 2305, processor(s) 2302, and I/O hub 2307 can be integratedinto a system on chip (SoC) integrated circuit. In at least oneembodiment, components of computing system 2300 can be integrated into asingle package to form a system in package (SIP) configuration. In atleast one embodiment, at least a portion of components of computingsystem 2300 can be integrated into a multi-chip module (MCM), which canbe interconnected with other multi-chip modules into a modular computingsystem.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in systemFIG. 2300 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at least inpart, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

Processors

FIG. 24A illustrates a parallel processor 2400 according to at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, various components of parallelprocessor 2400 may be implemented using one or more integrated circuitdevices, such as programmable processors, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), or field programmable gate arrays (FPGA).In at least one embodiment, illustrated parallel processor 2400 is avariant of one or more parallel processor(s) 2312 shown in FIG. 23according to an exemplary embodiment.

In at least one embodiment, parallel processor 2400 includes a parallelprocessing unit 2402. In at least one embodiment, parallel processingunit 2402 includes an I/O unit 2404 that enables communication withother devices, including other instances of parallel processing unit2402. In at least one embodiment, I/O unit 2404 may be directlyconnected to other devices. In at least one embodiment, I/O unit 2404connects with other devices via use of a hub or switch interface, suchas a memory hub 2405. In at least one embodiment, connections betweenmemory hub 2405 and I/O unit 2404 form a communication link 2413. In atleast one embodiment, I/O unit 2404 connects with a host interface 2406and a memory crossbar 2416, where host interface 2406 receives commandsdirected to performing processing operations and memory crossbar 2416receives commands directed to performing memory operations.

In at least one embodiment, when host interface 2406 receives a commandbuffer via I/O unit 2404, host interface 2406 can direct work operationsto perform those commands to a front end 2408. In at least oneembodiment, front end 2408 couples with a scheduler 2410, which isconfigured to distribute commands or other work items to a processingcluster array 2412. In at least one embodiment, scheduler 2410 ensuresthat processing cluster array 2412 is properly configured and in a validstate before tasks are distributed to a cluster of processing clusterarray 2412. In at least one embodiment, scheduler 2410 is implementedvia firmware logic executing on a microcontroller. In at least oneembodiment, microcontroller implemented scheduler 2410 is configurableto perform complex scheduling and work distribution operations at coarseand fine granularity, enabling rapid preemption and context switching ofthreads executing on processing array 2412. In at least one embodiment,host software can prove workloads for scheduling on processing clusterarray 2412 via one of multiple graphics processing paths. In at leastone embodiment, workloads can then be automatically distributed acrossprocessing array cluster 2412 by scheduler 2410 logic within amicrocontroller including scheduler 2410.

In at least one embodiment, processing cluster array 2412 can include upto “N” processing clusters (e.g., cluster 2414A, cluster 2414B, throughcluster 2414N), where “N” represents a positive integer (which may be adifferent integer “N” than used in other figures). In at least oneembodiment, each cluster 2414A-2414N of processing cluster array 2412can execute a large number of concurrent threads. In at least oneembodiment, scheduler 2410 can allocate work to clusters 2414A-2414N ofprocessing cluster array 2412 using various scheduling and/or workdistribution algorithms, which may vary depending on workload arisingfor each type of program or computation. In at least one embodiment,scheduling can be handled dynamically by scheduler 2410, or can beassisted in part by compiler logic during compilation of program logicconfigured for execution by processing cluster array 2412. In at leastone embodiment, different clusters 2414A-2414N of processing clusterarray 2412 can be allocated for processing different types of programsor for performing different types of computations.

In at least one embodiment, processing cluster array 2412 can beconfigured to perform various types of parallel processing operations.In at least one embodiment, processing cluster array 2412 is configuredto perform general-purpose parallel compute operations. For example, inat least one embodiment, processing cluster array 2412 can include logicto execute processing tasks including filtering of video and/or audiodata, performing modeling operations, including physics operations, andperforming data transformations.

In at least one embodiment, processing cluster array 2412 is configuredto perform parallel graphics processing operations. In at least oneembodiment, processing cluster array 2412 can include additional logicto support execution of such graphics processing operations, includingbut not limited to, texture sampling logic to perform textureoperations, as well as tessellation logic and other vertex processinglogic. In at least one embodiment, processing cluster array 2412 can beconfigured to execute graphics processing related shader programs suchas, but not limited to, vertex shaders, tessellation shaders, geometryshaders, and pixel shaders. In at least one embodiment, parallelprocessing unit 2402 can transfer data from system memory via I/O unit2404 for processing. In at least one embodiment, during processing,transferred data can be stored to on-chip memory (e.g., parallelprocessor memory 2422) during processing, then written back to systemmemory.

In at least one embodiment, when parallel processing unit 2402 is usedto perform graphics processing, scheduler 2410 can be configured todivide a processing workload into approximately equal sized tasks, tobetter enable distribution of graphics processing operations to multipleclusters 2414A-2414N of processing cluster array 2412. In at least oneembodiment, portions of processing cluster array 2412 can be configuredto perform different types of processing. For example, in at least oneembodiment, a first portion may be configured to perform vertex shadingand topology generation, a second portion may be configured to performtessellation and geometry shading, and a third portion may be configuredto perform pixel shading or other screen space operations, to produce arendered image for display. In at least one embodiment, intermediatedata produced by one or more of clusters 2414A-2414N may be stored inbuffers to allow intermediate data to be transmitted between clusters2414A-2414N for further processing.

In at least one embodiment, processing cluster array 2412 can receiveprocessing tasks to be executed via scheduler 2410, which receivescommands defining processing tasks from front end 2408. In at least oneembodiment, processing tasks can include indices of data to beprocessed, e.g., surface (patch) data, primitive data, vertex data,and/or pixel data, as well as state parameters and commands defining howdata is to be processed (e.g., what program is to be executed). In atleast one embodiment, scheduler 2410 may be configured to fetch indicescorresponding to tasks or may receive indices from front end 2408. In atleast one embodiment, front end 2408 can be configured to ensureprocessing cluster array 2412 is configured to a valid state before aworkload specified by incoming command buffers (e.g., batch-buffers,push buffers, etc.) is initiated.

In at least one embodiment, each of one or more instances of parallelprocessing unit 2402 can couple with a parallel processor memory 2422.In at least one embodiment, parallel processor memory 2422 can beaccessed via memory crossbar 2416, which can receive memory requestsfrom processing cluster array 2412 as well as I/O unit 2404. In at leastone embodiment, memory crossbar 2416 can access parallel processormemory 2422 via a memory interface 2418. In at least one embodiment,memory interface 2418 can include multiple partition units (e.g.,partition unit 2420A, partition unit 2420B, through partition unit2420N) that can each couple to a portion (e.g., memory unit) of parallelprocessor memory 2422. In at least one embodiment, a number of partitionunits 2420A-2420N is configured to be equal to a number of memory units,such that a first partition unit 2420A has a corresponding first memoryunit 2424A, a second partition unit 2420B has a corresponding memoryunit 2424B, and an N-th partition unit 2420N has a corresponding N-thmemory unit 2424N. In at least one embodiment, a number of partitionunits 2420A-2420N may not be equal to a number of memory units.

In at least one embodiment, memory units 2424A-2424N can include varioustypes of memory devices, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM)or graphics random access memory, such as synchronous graphics randomaccess memory (SGRAM), including graphics double data rate (GDDR)memory. In at least one embodiment, memory units 2424A-2424N may alsoinclude 3D stacked memory, including but not limited to high bandwidthmemory (HBM). In at least one embodiment, render targets, such as framebuffers or texture maps may be stored across memory units 2424A-2424N,allowing partition units 2420A-2420N to write portions of each rendertarget in parallel to efficiently use available bandwidth of parallelprocessor memory 2422. In at least one embodiment, a local instance ofparallel processor memory 2422 may be excluded in favor of a unifiedmemory design that utilizes system memory in conjunction with localcache memory.

In at least one embodiment, any one of clusters 2414A-2414N ofprocessing cluster array 2412 can process data that will be written toany of memory units 2424A-2424N within parallel processor memory 2422.In at least one embodiment, memory crossbar 2416 can be configured totransfer an output of each cluster 2414A-2414N to any partition unit2420A-2420N or to another cluster 2414A-2414N, which can performadditional processing operations on an output. In at least oneembodiment, each cluster 2414A-2414N can communicate with memoryinterface 2418 through memory crossbar 2416 to read from or write tovarious external memory devices. In at least one embodiment, memorycrossbar 2416 has a connection to memory interface 2418 to communicatewith I/O unit 2404, as well as a connection to a local instance ofparallel processor memory 2422, enabling processing units withindifferent processing clusters 2414A-2414N to communicate with systemmemory or other memory that is not local to parallel processing unit2402. In at least one embodiment, memory crossbar 2416 can use virtualchannels to separate traffic streams between clusters 2414A-2414N andpartition units 2420A-2420N.

In at least one embodiment, multiple instances of parallel processingunit 2402 can be provided on a single add-in card, or multiple add-incards can be interconnected. In at least one embodiment, differentinstances of parallel processing unit 2402 can be configured tointeroperate even if different instances have different numbers ofprocessing cores, different amounts of local parallel processor memory,and/or other configuration differences. For example, in at least oneembodiment, some instances of parallel processing unit 2402 can includehigher precision floating point units relative to other instances. In atleast one embodiment, systems incorporating one or more instances ofparallel processing unit 2402 or parallel processor 2400 can beimplemented in a variety of configurations and form factors, includingbut not limited to desktop, laptop, or handheld personal computers,servers, workstations, game consoles, and/or embedded systems.

FIG. 24B is a block diagram of a partition unit 2420 according to atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, partition unit 2420 isan instance of one of partition units 2420A-2420N of FIG. 24A. In atleast one embodiment, partition unit 2420 includes an L2 cache 2421, aframe buffer interface 2425, and a ROP 2426 (raster operations unit). Inat least one embodiment, L2 cache 2421 is a read/write cache that isconfigured to perform load and store operations received from memorycrossbar 2416 and ROP 2426. In at least one embodiment, read misses andurgent write-back requests are output by L2 cache 2421 to frame bufferinterface 2425 for processing. In at least one embodiment, updates canalso be sent to a frame buffer via frame buffer interface 2425 forprocessing. In at least one embodiment, frame buffer interface 2425interfaces with one of memory units in parallel processor memory, suchas memory units 2424A-2424N of FIG. 24 (e.g., within parallel processormemory 2422).

In at least one embodiment, ROP 2426 is a processing unit that performsraster operations such as stencil, z test, blending, etc. In at leastone embodiment, ROP 2426 then outputs processed graphics data that isstored in graphics memory. In at least one embodiment, ROP 2426 includescompression logic to compress depth or color data that is written tomemory and decompress depth or color data that is read from memory. Inat least one embodiment, compression logic can be lossless compressionlogic that makes use of one or more of multiple compression algorithms.In at least one embodiment, a type of compression that is performed byROP 2426 can vary based on statistical characteristics of data to becompressed. For example, in at least one embodiment, delta colorcompression is performed on depth and color data on a per-tile basis.

In at least one embodiment, ROP 2426 is included within each processingcluster (e.g., cluster 2414A-2414N of FIG. 24A) instead of withinpartition unit 2420. In at least one embodiment, read and write requestsfor pixel data are transmitted over memory crossbar 2416 instead ofpixel fragment data. In at least one embodiment, processed graphics datamay be displayed on a display device, such as one of one or more displaydevice(s) 2310 of FIG. 23 , routed for further processing byprocessor(s) 2302, or routed for further processing by one of processingentities within parallel processor 2400 of FIG. 24A.

FIG. 24C is a block diagram of a processing cluster 2414 within aparallel processing unit according to at least one embodiment. In atleast one embodiment, a processing cluster is an instance of one ofprocessing clusters 2414A-2414N of FIG. 24A. In at least one embodiment,processing cluster 2414 can be configured to execute many threads inparallel, where “thread” refers to an instance of a particular programexecuting on a particular set of input data. In at least one embodiment,single-instruction, multiple-data (SIMD) instruction issue techniquesare used to support parallel execution of a large number of threadswithout providing multiple independent instruction units. In at leastone embodiment, single-instruction, multiple-thread (SIMT) techniquesare used to support parallel execution of a large number of generallysynchronized threads, using a common instruction unit configured toissue instructions to a set of processing engines within each one ofprocessing clusters.

In at least one embodiment, operation of processing cluster 2414 can becontrolled via a pipeline manager 2432 that distributes processing tasksto SIMT parallel processors. In at least one embodiment, pipelinemanager 2432 receives instructions from scheduler 2410 of FIG. 24A andmanages execution of those instructions via a graphics multiprocessor2434 and/or a texture unit 2436. In at least one embodiment, graphicsmultiprocessor 2434 is an exemplary instance of a SIMT parallelprocessor. However, in at least one embodiment, various types of SIMTparallel processors of differing architectures may be included withinprocessing cluster 2414. In at least one embodiment, one or moreinstances of graphics multiprocessor 2434 can be included within aprocessing cluster 2414. In at least one embodiment, graphicsmultiprocessor 2434 can process data and a data crossbar 2440 can beused to distribute processed data to one of multiple possibledestinations, including other shader units. In at least one embodiment,pipeline manager 2432 can facilitate distribution of processed data byspecifying destinations for processed data to be distributed via datacrossbar 2440.

In at least one embodiment, each graphics multiprocessor 2434 withinprocessing cluster 2414 can include an identical set of functionalexecution logic (e.g., arithmetic logic units, load-store units, etc.).In at least one embodiment, functional execution logic can be configuredin a pipelined manner in which new instructions can be issued beforeprevious instructions are complete. In at least one embodiment,functional execution logic supports a variety of operations includinginteger and floating point arithmetic, comparison operations, Booleanoperations, bit-shifting, and computation of various algebraicfunctions. In at least one embodiment, same functional-unit hardware canbe leveraged to perform different operations and any combination offunctional units may be present.

In at least one embodiment, instructions transmitted to processingcluster 2414 constitute a thread. In at least one embodiment, a set ofthreads executing across a set of parallel processing engines is athread group. In at least one embodiment, a thread group executes acommon program on different input data. In at least one embodiment, eachthread within a thread group can be assigned to a different processingengine within a graphics multiprocessor 2434. In at least oneembodiment, a thread group may include fewer threads than a number ofprocessing engines within graphics multiprocessor 2434. In at least oneembodiment, when a thread group includes fewer threads than a number ofprocessing engines, one or more of processing engines may be idle duringcycles in which that thread group is being processed. In at least oneembodiment, a thread group may also include more threads than a numberof processing engines within graphics multiprocessor 2434. In at leastone embodiment, when a thread group includes more threads than number ofprocessing engines within graphics multiprocessor 2434, processing canbe performed over consecutive clock cycles. In at least one embodiment,multiple thread groups can be executed concurrently on a graphicsmultiprocessor 2434.

In at least one embodiment, graphics multiprocessor 2434 includes aninternal cache memory to perform load and store operations. In at leastone embodiment, graphics multiprocessor 2434 can forego an internalcache and use a cache memory (e.g., L1 cache 2448) within processingcluster 2414. In at least one embodiment, each graphics multiprocessor2434 also has access to L2 caches within partition units (e.g.,partition units 2420A-2420N of FIG. 24A) that are shared among allprocessing clusters 2414 and may be used to transfer data betweenthreads. In at least one embodiment, graphics multiprocessor 2434 mayalso access off-chip global memory, which can include one or more oflocal parallel processor memory and/or system memory. In at least oneembodiment, any memory external to parallel processing unit 2402 may beused as global memory. In at least one embodiment, processing cluster2414 includes multiple instances of graphics multiprocessor 2434 and canshare common instructions and data, which may be stored in L1 cache2448.

In at least one embodiment, each processing cluster 2414 may include anMMU 2445 (memory management unit) that is configured to map virtualaddresses into physical addresses. In at least one embodiment, one ormore instances of MMU 2445 may reside within memory interface 2418 ofFIG. 24A. In at least one embodiment, MMU 2445 includes a set of pagetable entries (PTEs) used to map a virtual address to a physical addressof a tile and optionally a cache line index. In at least one embodiment,MMU 2445 may include address translation lookaside buffers (TLB) orcaches that may reside within graphics multiprocessor 2434 or L1 2448cache or processing cluster 2414. In at least one embodiment, a physicaladdress is processed to distribute surface data access locally to allowfor efficient request interleaving among partition units. In at leastone embodiment, a cache line index may be used to determine whether arequest for a cache line is a hit or miss.

In at least one embodiment, a processing cluster 2414 may be configuredsuch that each graphics multiprocessor 2434 is coupled to a texture unit2436 for performing texture mapping operations, e.g., determiningtexture sample positions, reading texture data, and filtering texturedata. In at least one embodiment, texture data is read from an internaltexture L1 cache (not shown) or from an L1 cache within graphicsmultiprocessor 2434 and is fetched from an L2 cache, local parallelprocessor memory, or system memory, as needed. In at least oneembodiment, each graphics multiprocessor 2434 outputs processed tasks todata crossbar 2440 to provide processed task to another processingcluster 2414 for further processing or to store processed task in an L2cache, local parallel processor memory, or system memory via memorycrossbar 2416. In at least one embodiment, a preROP 2442 (pre-rasteroperations unit) is configured to receive data from graphicsmultiprocessor 2434, and direct data to ROP units, which may be locatedwith partition units as described herein (e.g., partition units2420A-2420N of FIG. 24A). In at least one embodiment, preROP 2442 unitcan perform optimizations for color blending, organizing pixel colordata, and performing address translations.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in graphicsprocessing cluster 2414 for inferencing or predicting operations based,at least in part, on weight parameters calculated using neural networktraining operations, neural network functions and/or architectures, orneural network use cases described herein.

FIG. 24D shows a graphics multiprocessor 2434 according to at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, graphics multiprocessor 2434couples with pipeline manager 2432 of processing cluster 2414. In atleast one embodiment, graphics multiprocessor 2434 has an executionpipeline including but not limited to an instruction cache 2452, aninstruction unit 2454, an address mapping unit 2456, a register file2458, one or more general purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) cores2462, and one or more load/store units 2466. In at least one embodiment,GPGPU cores 2462 and load/store units 2466 are coupled with cache memory2472 and shared memory 2470 via a memory and cache interconnect 2468.

In at least one embodiment, instruction cache 2452 receives a stream ofinstructions to execute from pipeline manager 2432. In at least oneembodiment, instructions are cached in instruction cache 2452 anddispatched for execution by an instruction unit 2454. In at least oneembodiment, instruction unit 2454 can dispatch instructions as threadgroups (e.g., warps), with each thread of thread group assigned to adifferent execution unit within GPGPU cores 2462. In at least oneembodiment, an instruction can access any of a local, shared, or globaladdress space by specifying an address within a unified address space.In at least one embodiment, address mapping unit 2456 can be used totranslate addresses in a unified address space into a distinct memoryaddress that can be accessed by load/store units 2466.

In at least one embodiment, register file 2458 provides a set ofregisters for functional units of graphics multiprocessor 2434. In atleast one embodiment, register file 2458 provides temporary storage foroperands connected to data paths of functional units (e.g., GPGPU cores2462, load/store units 2466) of graphics multiprocessor 2434. In atleast one embodiment, register file 2458 is divided between each offunctional units such that each functional unit is allocated a dedicatedportion of register file 2458. In at least one embodiment, register file2458 is divided between different warps being executed by graphicsmultiprocessor 2434.

In at least one embodiment, GPGPU cores 2462 can each include floatingpoint units (FPUs) and/or integer arithmetic logic units (ALUs) that areused to execute instructions of graphics multiprocessor 2434. In atleast one embodiment, GPGPU cores 2462 can be similar in architecture orcan differ in architecture. In at least one embodiment, a first portionof GPGPU cores 2462 include a single precision FPU and an integer ALUwhile a second portion of GPGPU cores include a double precision FPU. Inat least one embodiment, FPUs can implement IEEE 754-2008 standardfloating point arithmetic or enable variable precision floating pointarithmetic. In at least one embodiment, graphics multiprocessor 2434 canadditionally include one or more fixed function or special functionunits to perform specific functions such as copy rectangle or pixelblending operations. In at least one embodiment, one or more of GPGPUcores 2462 can also include fixed or special function logic.

In at least one embodiment, GPGPU cores 2462 include SIMD logic capableof performing a single instruction on multiple sets of data. In at leastone embodiment, GPGPU cores 2462 can physically execute SIMD4, SIMD8,and SIMD16 instructions and logically execute SIMD1, SIMD2, and SIMD32instructions. In at least one embodiment, SIMD instructions for GPGPUcores can be generated at compile time by a shader compiler orautomatically generated when executing programs written and compiled forsingle program multiple data (SPMD) or SIMT architectures. In at leastone embodiment, multiple threads of a program configured for an SIMTexecution model can executed via a single SIMD instruction. For example,in at least one embodiment, eight SIMT threads that perform same orsimilar operations can be executed in parallel via a single SIMD8 logicunit.

In at least one embodiment, memory and cache interconnect 2468 is aninterconnect network that connects each functional unit of graphicsmultiprocessor 2434 to register file 2458 and to shared memory 2470. Inat least one embodiment, memory and cache interconnect 2468 is acrossbar interconnect that allows load/store unit 2466 to implement loadand store operations between shared memory 2470 and register file 2458.In at least one embodiment, register file 2458 can operate at a samefrequency as GPGPU cores 2462, thus data transfer between GPGPU cores2462 and register file 2458 can have very low latency. In at least oneembodiment, shared memory 2470 can be used to enable communicationbetween threads that execute on functional units within graphicsmultiprocessor 2434. In at least one embodiment, cache memory 2472 canbe used as a data cache for example, to cache texture data communicatedbetween functional units and texture unit 2436. In at least oneembodiment, shared memory 2470 can also be used as a program managedcache. In at least one embodiment, threads executing on GPGPU cores 2462can programmatically store data within shared memory in addition toautomatically cached data that is stored within cache memory 2472.

In at least one embodiment, a parallel processor or GPGPU as describedherein is communicatively coupled to host/processor cores to accelerategraphics operations, machine-learning operations, pattern analysisoperations, and various general purpose GPU (GPGPU) functions. In atleast one embodiment, a GPU may be communicatively coupled to hostprocessor/cores over a bus or other interconnect (e.g., a high-speedinterconnect such as PCIe or NVLink). In at least one embodiment, a GPUmay be integrated on a package or chip as cores and communicativelycoupled to cores over an internal processor bus/interconnect internal toa package or chip. In at least one embodiment, regardless a manner inwhich a GPU is connected, processor cores may allocate work to such GPUin a form of sequences of commands/instructions contained in a workdescriptor. In at least one embodiment, that GPU then uses dedicatedcircuitry/logic for efficiently processing these commands/instructions.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in graphicsmultiprocessor 2434 for inferencing or predicting operations based, atleast in part, on weight parameters calculated using neural networktraining operations, neural network functions and/or architectures, orneural network use cases described herein.

FIG. 25 illustrates a multi-GPU computing system 2500, according to atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, multi-GPU computingsystem 2500 can include a processor 2502 coupled to multiple generalpurpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) 2506A-D via a host interfaceswitch 2504. In at least one embodiment, host interface switch 2504 is aPCI express switch device that couples processor 2502 to a PCI expressbus over which processor 2502 can communicate with GPGPUs 2506A-D. In atleast one embodiment, GPGPUs 2506A-D can interconnect via a set ofhigh-speed point-to-point GPU-to-GPU links 2516. In at least oneembodiment, GPU-to-GPU links 2516 connect to each of GPGPUs 2506A-D viaa dedicated GPU link. In at least one embodiment, P2P GPU links 2516enable direct communication between each of GPGPUs 2506A-D withoutrequiring communication over host interface bus 2504 to which processor2502 is connected. In at least one embodiment, with GPU-to-GPU trafficdirected to P2P GPU links 2516, host interface bus 2504 remainsavailable for system memory access or to communicate with otherinstances of multi-GPU computing system 2500, for example, via one ormore network devices. While in at least one embodiment GPGPUs 2506A-Dconnect to processor 2502 via host interface switch 2504, in at leastone embodiment processor 2502 includes direct support for P2P GPU links2516 and can connect directly to GPGPUs 2506A-D.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used inmulti-GPU computing system 2500 for inferencing or predicting operationsbased, at least in part, on weight parameters calculated using neuralnetwork training operations, neural network functions and/orarchitectures, or neural network use cases described herein.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a graphics processor 2600, according to atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, graphics processor2600 includes a ring interconnect 2602, a pipeline front-end 2604, amedia engine 2637, and graphics cores 2680A-2680N. In at least oneembodiment, ring interconnect 2602 couples graphics processor 2600 toother processing units, including other graphics processors or one ormore general-purpose processor cores. In at least one embodiment,graphics processor 2600 is one of many processors integrated within amulti-core processing system.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2600 receives batches ofcommands via ring interconnect 2602. In at least one embodiment,incoming commands are interpreted by a command streamer 2603 in pipelinefront-end 2604. In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2600includes scalable execution logic to perform 3D geometry processing andmedia processing via graphics core(s) 2680A-2680N. In at least oneembodiment, for 3D geometry processing commands, command streamer 2603supplies commands to geometry pipeline 2636. In at least one embodiment,for at least some media processing commands, command streamer 2603supplies commands to a video front end 2634, which couples with mediaengine 2637. In at least one embodiment, media engine 2637 includes aVideo Quality Engine (VQE) 2630 for video and image post-processing anda multi-format encode/decode (MFX) 2633 engine to providehardware-accelerated media data encoding and decoding. In at least oneembodiment, geometry pipeline 2636 and media engine 2637 each generateexecution threads for thread execution resources provided by at leastone graphics core 2680.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2600 includes scalablethread execution resources featuring graphics cores 2680A-2680N (whichcan be modular and are sometimes referred to as core slices), eachhaving multiple sub-cores 2650A-50N, 2660A-2660N (sometimes referred toas core sub-slices). In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 2600can have any number of graphics cores 2680A. In at least one embodiment,graphics processor 2600 includes a graphics core 2680A having at least afirst sub-core 2650A and a second sub-core 2660A. In at least oneembodiment, graphics processor 2600 is a low power processor with asingle sub-core (e.g., 2650A). In at least one embodiment, graphicsprocessor 2600 includes multiple graphics cores 2680A-2680N, eachincluding a set of first sub-cores 2650A-2650N and a set of secondsub-cores 2660A-2660N. In at least one embodiment, each sub-core infirst sub-cores 2650A-2650N includes at least a first set of executionunits 2652A-2652N and media/texture samplers 2654A-2654N. In at leastone embodiment, each sub-core in second sub-cores 2660A-2660N includesat least a second set of execution units 2662A-2662N and samplers2664A-2664N. In at least one embodiment, each sub-core 2650A-2650N,2660A-2660N shares a set of shared resources 2670A-2670N. In at leastone embodiment, shared resources include shared cache memory and pixeloperation logic.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, inference and/or training logic 1115 may be used in graphicsprocessor 2600 for inferencing or predicting operations based, at leastin part, on weight parameters calculated using neural network trainingoperations, neural network functions and/or architectures, or neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating micro-architecture for aprocessor 2700 that may include logic circuits to perform instructions,according to at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,processor 2700 may perform instructions, including x86 instructions, ARMinstructions, specialized instructions for application-specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), etc. In at least one embodiment, processor2700 may include registers to store packed data, such as 64-bit wideMMX™ registers in microprocessors enabled with MMX technology from IntelCorporation of Santa Clara, Calif. In at least one embodiment, MMXregisters, available in both integer and floating point forms, mayoperate with packed data elements that accompany single instruction,multiple data (“SIMD”) and streaming SIMD extensions (“SSE”)instructions. In at least one embodiment, 128-bit wide XMM registersrelating to SSE2, SSE3, SSE4, AVX, or beyond (referred to generically as“SSEx”) technology may hold such packed data operands. In at least oneembodiment, processor 2700 may perform instructions to acceleratemachine learning or deep learning algorithms, training, or inferencing.

In at least one embodiment, processor 2700 includes an in-order frontend (“front end”) 2701 to fetch instructions to be executed and prepareinstructions to be used later in a processor pipeline. In at least oneembodiment, front end 2701 may include several units. In at least oneembodiment, an instruction prefetcher 2726 fetches instructions frommemory and feeds instructions to an instruction decoder 2728 which inturn decodes or interprets instructions. For example, in at least oneembodiment, instruction decoder 2728 decodes a received instruction intoone or more operations called “micro-instructions” or “micro-operations”(also called “micro ops” or “uops”) that a machine may execute. In atleast one embodiment, instruction decoder 2728 parses an instructioninto an opcode and corresponding data and control fields that may beused by micro-architecture to perform operations in accordance with atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, a trace cache 2730 mayassemble decoded uops into program ordered sequences or traces in a uopqueue 2734 for execution. In at least one embodiment, when trace cache2730 encounters a complex instruction, a microcode ROM 2732 providesuops needed to complete an operation.

In at least one embodiment, some instructions may be converted into asingle micro-op, whereas others need several micro-ops to complete fulloperation. In at least one embodiment, if more than four micro-ops areneeded to complete an instruction, instruction decoder 2728 may accessmicrocode ROM 2732 to perform that instruction. In at least oneembodiment, an instruction may be decoded into a small number ofmicro-ops for processing at instruction decoder 2728. In at least oneembodiment, an instruction may be stored within microcode ROM 2732should a number of micro-ops be needed to accomplish such operation. Inat least one embodiment, trace cache 2730 refers to an entry pointprogrammable logic array (“PLA”) to determine a correctmicro-instruction pointer for reading microcode sequences to completeone or more instructions from microcode ROM 2732 in accordance with atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, after microcode ROM2732 finishes sequencing micro-ops for an instruction, front end 2701 ofa machine may resume fetching micro-ops from trace cache 2730.

In at least one embodiment, out-of-order execution engine (“out of orderengine”) 2703 may prepare instructions for execution. In at least oneembodiment, out-of-order execution logic has a number of buffers tosmooth out and re-order flow of instructions to optimize performance asthey go down a pipeline and get scheduled for execution. In at least oneembodiment, out-of-order execution engine 2703 includes, withoutlimitation, an allocator/register renamer 2740, a memory uop queue 2742,an integer/floating point uop queue 2744, a memory scheduler 2746, afast scheduler 2702, a slow/general floating point scheduler(“slow/general FP scheduler”) 2704, and a simple floating pointscheduler (“simple FP scheduler”) 2706. In at least one embodiment, fastschedule 2702, slow/general floating point scheduler 2704, and simplefloating point scheduler 2706 are also collectively referred to hereinas “uop schedulers 2702, 2704, 2706.” In at least one embodiment,allocator/register renamer 2740 allocates machine buffers and resourcesthat each uop needs in order to execute. In at least one embodiment,allocator/register renamer 2740 renames logic registers onto entries ina register file. In at least one embodiment, allocator/register renamer2740 also allocates an entry for each uop in one of two uop queues,memory uop queue 2742 for memory operations and integer/floating pointuop queue 2744 for non-memory operations, in front of memory scheduler2746 and uop schedulers 2702, 2704, 2706. In at least one embodiment,uop schedulers 2702, 2704, 2706, determine when a uop is ready toexecute based on readiness of their dependent input register operandsources and availability of execution resources uops need to completetheir operation. In at least one embodiment, fast scheduler 2702 mayschedule on each half of a main clock cycle while slow/general floatingpoint scheduler 2704 and simple floating point scheduler 2706 mayschedule once per main processor clock cycle. In at least oneembodiment, uop schedulers 2702, 2704, 2706 arbitrate for dispatch portsto schedule uops for execution.

In at least one embodiment, execution block 2711 includes, withoutlimitation, an integer register file/bypass network 2708, a floatingpoint register file/bypass network (“FP register file/bypass network”)2710, address generation units (“AGUs”) 2712 and 2714, fast ArithmeticLogic Units (ALUs) (“fast ALUs”) 2716 and 2718, a slow Arithmetic LogicUnit (“slow ALU”) 2720, a floating point ALU (“FP”) 2722, and a floatingpoint move unit (“FP move”) 2724. In at least one embodiment, integerregister file/bypass network 2708 and floating point registerfile/bypass network 2710 are also referred to herein as “register files2708, 2710.” In at least one embodiment, AGUSs 2712 and 2714, fast ALUs2716 and 2718, slow ALU 2720, floating point ALU 2722, and floatingpoint move unit 2724 are also referred to herein as “execution units2712, 2714, 2716, 2718, 2720, 2722, and 2724.” In at least oneembodiment, execution block 2711 may include, without limitation, anynumber (including zero) and type of register files, bypass networks,address generation units, and execution units, in any combination.

In at least one embodiment, register networks 2708, 2710 may be arrangedbetween uop schedulers 2702, 2704, 2706, and execution units 2712, 2714,2716, 2718, 2720, 2722, and 2724. In at least one embodiment, integerregister file/bypass network 2708 performs integer operations. In atleast one embodiment, floating point register file/bypass network 2710performs floating point operations. In at least one embodiment, each ofregister networks 2708, 2710 may include, without limitation, a bypassnetwork that may bypass or forward just completed results that have notyet been written into a register file to new dependent uops. In at leastone embodiment, register networks 2708, 2710 may communicate data witheach other. In at least one embodiment, integer register file/bypassnetwork 2708 may include, without limitation, two separate registerfiles, one register file for a low-order thirty-two bits of data and asecond register file for a high order thirty-two bits of data. In atleast one embodiment, floating point register file/bypass network 2710may include, without limitation, 128-bit wide entries because floatingpoint instructions typically have operands from 64 to 128 bits in width.

In at least one embodiment, execution units 2712, 2714, 2716, 2718,2720, 2722, 2724 may execute instructions. In at least one embodiment,register networks 2708, 2710 store integer and floating point dataoperand values that micro-instructions need to execute. In at least oneembodiment, processor 2700 may include, without limitation, any numberand combination of execution units 2712, 2714, 2716, 2718, 2720, 2722,2724. In at least one embodiment, floating point ALU 2722 and floatingpoint move unit 2724, may execute floating point, MMX, SIMD, AVX andSSE, or other operations, including specialized machine learninginstructions. In at least one embodiment, floating point ALU 2722 mayinclude, without limitation, a 64-bit by 64-bit floating point dividerto execute divide, square root, and remainder micro ops. In at least oneembodiment, instructions involving a floating point value may be handledwith floating point hardware. In at least one embodiment, ALU operationsmay be passed to fast ALUs 2716, 2718. In at least one embodiment, fastALUS 2716, 2718 may execute fast operations with an effective latency ofhalf a clock cycle. In at least one embodiment, most complex integeroperations go to slow ALU 2720 as slow ALU 2720 may include, withoutlimitation, integer execution hardware for long-latency type ofoperations, such as a multiplier, shifts, flag logic, and branchprocessing. In at least one embodiment, memory load/store operations maybe executed by AGUs 2712, 2714. In at least one embodiment, fast ALU2716, fast ALU 2718, and slow ALU 2720 may perform integer operations on64-bit data operands. In at least one embodiment, fast ALU 2716, fastALU 2718, and slow ALU 2720 may be implemented to support a variety ofdata bit sizes including sixteen, thirty-two, 128, 256, etc. In at leastone embodiment, floating point ALU 2722 and floating point move unit2724 may be implemented to support a range of operands having bits ofvarious widths, such as 128-bit wide packed data operands in conjunctionwith SIMD and multimedia instructions.

In at least one embodiment, uop schedulers 2702, 2704, 2706 dispatchdependent operations before a parent load has finished executing. In atleast one embodiment, as uops may be speculatively scheduled andexecuted in processor 2700, processor 2700 may also include logic tohandle memory misses. In at least one embodiment, if a data load missesin a data cache, there may be dependent operations in flight in apipeline that have left a scheduler with temporarily incorrect data. Inat least one embodiment, a replay mechanism tracks and re-executesinstructions that use incorrect data. In at least one embodiment,dependent operations might need to be replayed and independent ones maybe allowed to complete. In at least one embodiment, schedulers and areplay mechanism of at least one embodiment of a processor may also bedesigned to catch instruction sequences for text string comparisonoperations.

In at least one embodiment, “registers” may refer to on-board processorstorage locations that may be used as part of instructions to identifyoperands. In at least one embodiment, registers may be those that may beusable from outside of a processor (from a programmer's perspective). Inat least one embodiment, registers might not be limited to a particulartype of circuit. Rather, in at least one embodiment, a register maystore data, provide data, and perform functions described herein. In atleast one embodiment, registers described herein may be implemented bycircuitry within a processor using any number of different techniques,such as dedicated physical registers, dynamically allocated physicalregisters using register renaming, combinations of dedicated anddynamically allocated physical registers, etc. In at least oneembodiment, integer registers store 32-bit integer data. A register fileof at least one embodiment also contains eight multimedia SIMD registersfor packed data.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment portions or all of inference and/or training logic 1115 maybe incorporated into execution block 2711 and other memory or registersshown or not shown. For example, in at least one embodiment, trainingand/or inferencing techniques described herein may use one or more ofALUs illustrated in execution block 2711. Moreover, weight parametersmay be stored in on-chip or off-chip memory and/or registers (shown ornot shown) that configure ALUs of execution block 2711 to perform one ormore machine learning algorithms, neural network architectures, usecases, or training techniques described herein.

FIG. 28 illustrates a deep learning application processor 2800,according to at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, deeplearning application processor 2800 uses instructions that, if executedby deep learning application processor 2800, cause deep learningapplication processor 2800 to perform some or all of processes andtechniques described throughout this disclosure. In at least oneembodiment, deep learning application processor 2800 is anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In at least oneembodiment, application processor 2800 performs matrix multiplyoperations either “hard-wired” into hardware as a result of performingone or more instructions or both. In at least one embodiment, deeplearning application processor 2800 includes, without limitation,processing clusters 2810(1)-2810(12), Inter-Chip Links (“ICLs”)2820(1)-2820(12), Inter-Chip Controllers (“ICCs”) 2830(1)-2830(2),high-bandwidth memory second generation (“HBM2”) 2840(1)-2840(4), memorycontrollers (“Mem Ctrlrs”) 2842(1)-2842(4), high bandwidth memoryphysical layer (“HBM PHY”) 2844(1)-2844(4), a management-controllercentral processing unit (“management-controller CPU”) 2850, a SerialPeripheral Interface, Inter-Integrated Circuit, and General PurposeInput/Output block (“SPI, VC, GPIO”) 2860, a peripheral componentinterconnect express controller and direct memory access block (“PCIeController and DMA”) 2870, and a sixteen-lane peripheral componentinterconnect express port (“PCI Express×16”) 2880.

In at least one embodiment, processing clusters 2810 may perform deeplearning operations, including inference or prediction operations basedon weight parameters calculated one or more training techniques,including those described herein. In at least one embodiment, eachprocessing cluster 2810 may include, without limitation, any number andtype of processors. In at least one embodiment, deep learningapplication processor 2800 may include any number and type of processingclusters 2800. In at least one embodiment, Inter-Chip Links 2820 arebi-directional. In at least one embodiment, Inter-Chip Links 2820 andInter-Chip Controllers 2830 enable multiple deep learning applicationprocessors 2800 to exchange information, including activationinformation resulting from performing one or more machine learningalgorithms embodied in one or more neural networks. In at least oneembodiment, deep learning application processor 2800 may include anynumber (including zero) and type of ICLs 2820 and ICCs 2830.

In at least one embodiment, HBM2s 2840 provide a total of 32 Gigabytes(GB) of memory. In at least one embodiment, HBM2 2840(i) is associatedwith both memory controller 2842(i) and HBM PHY 2844(i) where “i” is anarbitrary integer. In at least one embodiment, any number of HBM2s 2840may provide any type and total amount of high bandwidth memory and maybe associated with any number (including zero) and type of memorycontrollers 2842 and HBM PHYs 2844. In at least one embodiment, SPI,I²C, GPIO 2860, PCIe Controller and DMA 2870, and/or PCIe 2880 may bereplaced with any number and type of blocks that enable any number andtype of communication standards in any technically feasible fashion.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, deep learning application processor is used to train amachine learning model, such as a neural network, to predict or inferinformation provided to deep learning application processor 2800. In atleast one embodiment, deep learning application processor 2800 is usedto infer or predict information based on a trained machine learningmodel (e.g., neural network) that has been trained by another processoror system or by deep learning application processor 2800. In at leastone embodiment, processor 2800 may be used to perform one or more neuralnetwork use cases described herein.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of a neuromorphic processor 2900, accordingto at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, neuromorphicprocessor 2900 may receive one or more inputs from sources external toneuromorphic processor 2900. In at least one embodiment, these inputsmay be transmitted to one or more neurons 2902 within neuromorphicprocessor 2900. In at least one embodiment, neurons 2902 and componentsthereof may be implemented using circuitry or logic, including one ormore arithmetic logic units (ALUs). In at least one embodiment,neuromorphic processor 2900 may include, without limitation, thousandsor millions of instances of neurons 2902, but any suitable number ofneurons 2902 may be used. In at least one embodiment, each instance ofneuron 2902 may include a neuron input 2904 and a neuron output 2906. Inat least one embodiment, neurons 2902 may generate outputs that may betransmitted to inputs of other instances of neurons 2902. For example,in at least one embodiment, neuron inputs 2904 and neuron outputs 2906may be interconnected via synapses 2908.

In at least one embodiment, neurons 2902 and synapses 2908 may beinterconnected such that neuromorphic processor 2900 operates to processor analyze information received by neuromorphic processor 2900. In atleast one embodiment, neurons 2902 may transmit an output pulse (or“fire” or “spike”) when inputs received through neuron input 2904 exceeda threshold. In at least one embodiment, neurons 2902 may sum orintegrate signals received at neuron inputs 2904. For example, in atleast one embodiment, neurons 2902 may be implemented as leakyintegrate-and-fire neurons, wherein if a sum (referred to as a “membranepotential”) exceeds a threshold value, neuron 2902 may generate anoutput (or “fire”) using a transfer function such as a sigmoid orthreshold function. In at least one embodiment, a leakyintegrate-and-fire neuron may sum signals received at neuron inputs 2904into a membrane potential and may also apply a decay factor (or leak) toreduce a membrane potential. In at least one embodiment, a leakyintegrate-and-fire neuron may fire if multiple input signals arereceived at neuron inputs 2904 rapidly enough to exceed a thresholdvalue (i.e., before a membrane potential decays too low to fire). In atleast one embodiment, neurons 2902 may be implemented using circuits orlogic that receive inputs, integrate inputs into a membrane potential,and decay a membrane potential. In at least one embodiment, inputs maybe averaged, or any other suitable transfer function may be used.Furthermore, in at least one embodiment, neurons 2902 may include,without limitation, comparator circuits or logic that generate an outputspike at neuron output 2906 when result of applying a transfer functionto neuron input 2904 exceeds a threshold. In at least one embodiment,once neuron 2902 fires, it may disregard previously received inputinformation by, for example, resetting a membrane potential to 0 oranother suitable default value. In at least one embodiment, oncemembrane potential is reset to 0, neuron 2902 may resume normaloperation after a suitable period of time (or refractory period).

In at least one embodiment, neurons 2902 may be interconnected throughsynapses 2908. In at least one embodiment, synapses 2908 may operate totransmit signals from an output of a first neuron 2902 to an input of asecond neuron 2902. In at least one embodiment, neurons 2902 maytransmit information over more than one instance of synapse 2908. In atleast one embodiment, one or more instances of neuron output 2906 may beconnected, via an instance of synapse 2908, to an instance of neuroninput 2904 in same neuron 2902. In at least one embodiment, an instanceof neuron 2902 generating an output to be transmitted over an instanceof synapse 2908 may be referred to as a “pre-synaptic neuron” withrespect to that instance of synapse 2908. In at least one embodiment, aninstance of neuron 2902 receiving an input transmitted over an instanceof synapse 2908 may be referred to as a “post-synaptic neuron” withrespect to that instance of synapse 2908. Because an instance of neuron2902 may receive inputs from one or more instances of synapse 2908, andmay also transmit outputs over one or more instances of synapse 2908, asingle instance of neuron 2902 may therefore be both a “pre-synapticneuron” and “post-synaptic neuron,” with respect to various instances ofsynapses 2908, in at least one embodiment.

In at least one embodiment, neurons 2902 may be organized into one ormore layers. In at least one embodiment, each instance of neuron 2902may have one neuron output 2906 that may fan out through one or moresynapses 2908 to one or more neuron inputs 2904. In at least oneembodiment, neuron outputs 2906 of neurons 2902 in a first layer 2910may be connected to neuron inputs 2904 of neurons 2902 in a second layer2912. In at least one embodiment, layer 2910 may be referred to as a“feed-forward layer.” In at least one embodiment, each instance ofneuron 2902 in an instance of first layer 2910 may fan out to eachinstance of neuron 2902 in second layer 2912. In at least oneembodiment, first layer 2910 may be referred to as a “fully connectedfeed-forward layer.” In at least one embodiment, each instance of neuron2902 in an instance of second layer 2912 may fan out to fewer than allinstances of neuron 2902 in a third layer 2914. In at least oneembodiment, second layer 2912 may be referred to as a “sparselyconnected feed-forward layer.” In at least one embodiment, neurons 2902in second layer 2912 may fan out to neurons 2902 in multiple otherlayers, including to neurons 2902 also in second layer 2912. In at leastone embodiment, second layer 2912 may be referred to as a “recurrentlayer.” In at least one embodiment, neuromorphic processor 2900 mayinclude, without limitation, any suitable combination of recurrentlayers and feed-forward layers, including, without limitation, bothsparsely connected feed-forward layers and fully connected feed-forwardlayers.

In at least one embodiment, neuromorphic processor 2900 may include,without limitation, a reconfigurable interconnect architecture ordedicated hard-wired interconnects to connect synapse 2908 to neurons2902. In at least one embodiment, neuromorphic processor 2900 mayinclude, without limitation, circuitry or logic that allows synapses tobe allocated to different neurons 2902 as needed based on neural networktopology and neuron fan-in/out. For example, in at least one embodiment,synapses 2908 may be connected to neurons 2902 using an interconnectfabric, such as network-on-chip, or with dedicated connections. In atleast one embodiment, synapse interconnections and components thereofmay be implemented using circuitry or logic.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram of a processing system, according to at leastone embodiment. In at least one embodiment, system 3000 includes one ormore processors 3002 and one or more graphics processors 3008, and maybe a single processor desktop system, a multiprocessor workstationsystem, or a server system having a large number of processors 3002 orprocessor cores 3007. In at least one embodiment, system 3000 is aprocessing platform incorporated within a system-on-a-chip (SoC)integrated circuit for use in mobile, handheld, or embedded devices.

In at least one embodiment, system 3000 can include, or be incorporatedwithin a server-based gaming platform, a game console, including a gameand media console, a mobile gaming console, a handheld game console, oran online game console. In at least one embodiment, system 3000 is amobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet computing device or a mobileInternet device. In at least one embodiment, processing system 3000 canalso include, couple with, or be integrated within a wearable device,such as a smart watch wearable device, a smart eyewear device, anaugmented reality device, or a virtual reality device. In at least oneembodiment, processing system 3000 is a television or set top box devicehaving one or more processors 3002 and a graphical interface generatedby one or more graphics processors 3008.

In at least one embodiment, one or more processors 3002 each include oneor more processor cores 3007 to process instructions which, whenexecuted, perform operations for system and user software. In at leastone embodiment, each of one or more processor cores 3007 is configuredto process a specific instruction sequence 3009. In at least oneembodiment, instruction sequence 3009 may facilitate Complex InstructionSet Computing (CISC), Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC), orcomputing via a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW). In at least oneembodiment, processor cores 3007 may each process a differentinstruction sequence 3009, which may include instructions to facilitateemulation of other instruction sequences. In at least one embodiment,processor core 3007 may also include other processing devices, such aDigital Signal Processor (DSP).

In at least one embodiment, processor 3002 includes a cache memory 3004.In at least one embodiment, processor 3002 can have a single internalcache or multiple levels of internal cache. In at least one embodiment,cache memory is shared among various components of processor 3002. In atleast one embodiment, processor 3002 also uses an external cache (e.g.,a Level-3 (L3) cache or Last Level Cache (LLC)) (not shown), which maybe shared among processor cores 3007 using known cache coherencytechniques. In at least one embodiment, a register file 3006 isadditionally included in processor 3002, which may include differenttypes of registers for storing different types of data (e.g., integerregisters, floating point registers, status registers, and aninstruction pointer register). In at least one embodiment, register file3006 may include general-purpose registers or other registers.

In at least one embodiment, one or more processor(s) 3002 are coupledwith one or more interface bus(es) 3010 to transmit communicationsignals such as address, data, or control signals between processor 3002and other components in system 3000. In at least one embodiment,interface bus 3010, in one embodiment, can be a processor bus, such as aversion of a Direct Media Interface (DMI) bus. In at least oneembodiment, interface bus 3010 is not limited to a DMI bus, and mayinclude one or more Peripheral Component Interconnect buses (e.g., PCI,PCI Express), memory busses, or other types of interface busses. In atleast one embodiment processor(s) 3002 include an integrated memorycontroller 3016 and a platform controller hub 3030. In at least oneembodiment, memory controller 3016 facilitates communication between amemory device and other components of system 3000, while platformcontroller hub (PCH) 3030 provides connections to I/O devices via alocal I/O bus.

In at least one embodiment, a memory device 3020 can be a dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) device, a static random access memory (SRAM)device, flash memory device, phase-change memory device, or some othermemory device having suitable performance to serve as process memory. Inat least one embodiment, memory device 3020 can operate as system memoryfor system 3000, to store data 3022 and instructions 3021 for use whenone or more processors 3002 executes an application or process. In atleast one embodiment, memory controller 3016 also couples with anoptional external graphics processor 3012, which may communicate withone or more graphics processors 3008 in processors 3002 to performgraphics and media operations. In at least one embodiment, a displaydevice 3011 can connect to processor(s) 3002. In at least oneembodiment, display device 3011 can include one or more of an internaldisplay device, as in a mobile electronic device or a laptop device, oran external display device attached via a display interface (e.g.,DisplayPort, etc.). In at least one embodiment, display device 3011 caninclude a head mounted display (HMD) such as a stereoscopic displaydevice for use in virtual reality (VR) applications or augmented reality(AR) applications.

In at least one embodiment, platform controller hub 3030 enablesperipherals to connect to memory device 3020 and processor 3002 via ahigh-speed I/O bus. In at least one embodiment, I/O peripherals include,but are not limited to, an audio controller 3046, a network controller3034, a firmware interface 3028, a wireless transceiver 3026, touchsensors 3025, a data storage device 3024 (e.g., hard disk drive, flashmemory, etc.). In at least one embodiment, data storage device 3024 canconnect via a storage interface (e.g., SATA) or via a peripheral bus,such as a Peripheral Component Interconnect bus (e.g., PCI, PCIExpress). In at least one embodiment, touch sensors 3025 can includetouch screen sensors, pressure sensors, or fingerprint sensors. In atleast one embodiment, wireless transceiver 3026 can be a Wi-Fitransceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, or a mobile network transceiversuch as a 3G, 4G, or Long Term Evolution (LTE) transceiver. In at leastone embodiment, firmware interface 3028 enables communication withsystem firmware, and can be, for example, a unified extensible firmwareinterface (UEFI). In at least one embodiment, network controller 3034can enable a network connection to a wired network. In at least oneembodiment, a high-performance network controller (not shown) coupleswith interface bus 3010. In at least one embodiment, audio controller3046 is a multi-channel high definition audio controller. In at leastone embodiment, system 3000 includes an optional legacy I/O controller3040 for coupling legacy (e.g., Personal System 2 (PS/2)) devices tosystem 3000. In at least one embodiment, platform controller hub 3030can also connect to one or more Universal Serial Bus (USB) controllers3042 connect input devices, such as keyboard and mouse 3043combinations, a camera 3044, or other USB input devices.

In at least one embodiment, an instance of memory controller 3016 andplatform controller hub 3030 may be integrated into a discreet externalgraphics processor, such as external graphics processor 3012. In atleast one embodiment, platform controller hub 3030 and/or memorycontroller 3016 may be external to one or more processor(s) 3002. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, system 3000 can include an externalmemory controller 3016 and platform controller hub 3030, which may beconfigured as a memory controller hub and peripheral controller hubwithin a system chipset that is in communication with processor(s) 3002.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment portions or all of inference and/or training logic 1115 maybe incorporated into graphics processor 3000. For example, in at leastone embodiment, training and/or inferencing techniques described hereinmay use one or more of ALUs embodied in a 3D pipeline. Moreover, in atleast one embodiment, inferencing and/or training operations describedherein may be done using logic other than logic illustrated in FIG. 11Aor 11B. In at least one embodiment, weight parameters may be stored inon-chip or off-chip memory and/or registers (shown or not shown) thatconfigure ALUs of graphics processor 3000 to perform one or more machinelearning algorithms, neural network architectures, use cases, ortraining techniques described herein.

FIG. 31 is a block diagram of a processor 3100 having one or moreprocessor cores 3102A-3102N, an integrated memory controller 3114, andan integrated graphics processor 3108, according to at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, processor 3100 can includeadditional cores up to and including additional core 3102N representedby dashed lined boxes. In at least one embodiment, each of processorcores 3102A-3102N includes one or more internal cache units 3104A-3104N.In at least one embodiment, each processor core also has access to oneor more shared cached units 3106.

In at least one embodiment, internal cache units 3104A-3104N and sharedcache units 3106 represent a cache memory hierarchy within processor3100. In at least one embodiment, cache memory units 3104A-3104N mayinclude at least one level of instruction and data cache within eachprocessor core and one or more levels of shared mid-level cache, such asa Level 2 (L2), Level 3 (L3), Level 4 (L4), or other levels of cache,where a highest level of cache before external memory is classified asan LLC. In at least one embodiment, cache coherency logic maintainscoherency between various cache units 3106 and 3104A-3104N.

In at least one embodiment, processor 3100 may also include a set of oneor more bus controller units 3116 and a system agent core 3110. In atleast one embodiment, bus controller units 3116 manage a set ofperipheral buses, such as one or more PCI or PCI express busses. In atleast one embodiment, system agent core 3110 provides managementfunctionality for various processor components. In at least oneembodiment, system agent core 3110 includes one or more integratedmemory controllers 3114 to manage access to various external memorydevices (not shown).

In at least one embodiment, one or more of processor cores 3102A-3102Ninclude support for simultaneous multi-threading. In at least oneembodiment, system agent core 3110 includes components for coordinatingand operating cores 3102A-3102N during multi-threaded processing. In atleast one embodiment, system agent core 3110 may additionally include apower control unit (PCU), which includes logic and components toregulate one or more power states of processor cores 3102A-3102N andgraphics processor 3108.

In at least one embodiment, processor 3100 additionally includesgraphics processor 3108 to execute graphics processing operations. In atleast one embodiment, graphics processor 3108 couples with shared cacheunits 3106, and system agent core 3110, including one or more integratedmemory controllers 3114. In at least one embodiment, system agent core3110 also includes a display controller 3111 to drive graphics processoroutput to one or more coupled displays. In at least one embodiment,display controller 3111 may also be a separate module coupled withgraphics processor 3108 via at least one interconnect, or may beintegrated within graphics processor 3108.

In at least one embodiment, a ring-based interconnect unit 3112 is usedto couple internal components of processor 3100. In at least oneembodiment, an alternative interconnect unit may be used, such as apoint-to-point interconnect, a switched interconnect, or othertechniques. In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 3108 coupleswith ring interconnect 3112 via an I/O link 3113.

In at least one embodiment, I/O link 3113 represents at least one ofmultiple varieties of I/O interconnects, including an on package I/Ointerconnect which facilitates communication between various processorcomponents and a high-performance embedded memory module 3118, such asan eDRAM module. In at least one embodiment, each of processor cores3102A-3102N and graphics processor 3108 use embedded memory module 3118as a shared Last Level Cache.

In at least one embodiment, processor cores 3102A-3102N are homogeneouscores executing a common instruction set architecture. In at least oneembodiment, processor cores 3102A-3102N are heterogeneous in terms ofinstruction set architecture (ISA), where one or more of processor cores3102A-3102N execute a common instruction set, while one or more othercores of processor cores 3102A-3102N executes a subset of a commoninstruction set or a different instruction set. In at least oneembodiment, processor cores 3102A-3102N are heterogeneous in terms ofmicroarchitecture, where one or more cores having a relatively higherpower consumption couple with one or more power cores having a lowerpower consumption. In at least one embodiment, processor 3100 can beimplemented on one or more chips or as an SoC integrated circuit.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment portions or all of inference and/or training logic 1115 maybe incorporated into graphics processor 3110. For example, in at leastone embodiment, training and/or inferencing techniques described hereinmay use one or more of ALUs embodied in a 3D pipeline, graphics core(s)3102, shared function logic, or other logic in FIG. 31 . Moreover, in atleast one embodiment, inferencing and/or training operations describedherein may be done using logic other than logic illustrated in FIG. 11Aor 11B. In at least one embodiment, weight parameters may be stored inon-chip or off-chip memory and/or registers (shown or not shown) thatconfigure ALUs of processor 3100 to perform one or more machine learningalgorithms, neural network architectures, use cases, or trainingtechniques described herein.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of a graphics processor 3200, which may be adiscrete graphics processing unit, or may be a graphics processorintegrated with a plurality of processing cores. In at least oneembodiment, graphics processor 3200 communicates via a memory mapped I/Ointerface to registers on graphics processor 3200 and with commandsplaced into memory. In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 3200includes a memory interface 3214 to access memory. In at least oneembodiment, memory interface 3214 is an interface to local memory, oneor more internal caches, one or more shared external caches, and/or tosystem memory.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 3200 also includes adisplay controller 3202 to drive display output data to a display device3220. In at least one embodiment, display controller 3202 includeshardware for one or more overlay planes for display device 3220 andcomposition of multiple layers of video or user interface elements. Inat least one embodiment, display device 3220 can be an internal orexternal display device. In at least one embodiment, display device 3220is a head mounted display device, such as a virtual reality (VR) displaydevice or an augmented reality (AR) display device. In at least oneembodiment, graphics processor 3200 includes a video codec engine 3206to encode, decode, or transcode media to, from, or between one or moremedia encoding formats, including, but not limited to Moving PictureExperts Group (MPEG) formats such as MPEG-2, Advanced Video Coding (AVC)formats such as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, as well as the Society of MotionPicture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) 421M/VC-1, and Joint PhotographicExperts Group (JPEG) formats such as JPEG, and Motion JPEG (MJPEG)formats.

In at least one embodiment, graphics processor 3200 includes a blockimage transfer (BLIT) engine 3204 to perform two-dimensional (2D)rasterizer operations including, for example, bit-boundary blocktransfers. However, in at least one embodiment, 2D graphics operationsare performed using one or more components of a graphics processingengine (GPE) 3210. In at least one embodiment, GPE 3210 is a computeengine for performing graphics operations, including three-dimensional(3D) graphics operations and media operations.

In at least one embodiment, GPE 3210 includes a 3D pipeline 3212 forperforming 3D operations, such as rendering three-dimensional images andscenes using processing functions that act upon 3D primitive shapes(e.g., rectangle, triangle, etc.). In at least one embodiment, 3Dpipeline 3212 includes programmable and fixed function elements thatperform various tasks and/or spawn execution threads to a 3D/Mediasub-system 3215. While 3D pipeline 3212 can be used to perform mediaoperations, in at least one embodiment, GPE 3210 also includes a mediapipeline 3216 that is used to perform media operations, such as videopost-processing and image enhancement.

In at least one embodiment, media pipeline 3216 includes fixed functionor programmable logic units to perform one or more specialized mediaoperations, such as video decode acceleration, video de-interlacing, andvideo encode acceleration in place of, or on behalf of, video codecengine 3206. In at least one embodiment, media pipeline 3216additionally includes a thread spawning unit to spawn threads forexecution on 3D/Media sub-system 3215. In at least one embodiment,spawned threads perform computations for media operations on one or moregraphics execution units included in 3D/Media sub-system 3215.

In at least one embodiment, 3D/Media subsystem 3215 includes logic forexecuting threads spawned by 3D pipeline 3212 and media pipeline 3216.In at least one embodiment, 3D pipeline 3212 and media pipeline 3216send thread execution requests to 3D/Media subsystem 3215, whichincludes thread dispatch logic for arbitrating and dispatching variousrequests to available thread execution resources. In at least oneembodiment, execution resources include an array of graphics executionunits to process 3D and media threads. In at least one embodiment,3D/Media subsystem 3215 includes one or more internal caches for threadinstructions and data. In at least one embodiment, subsystem 3215 alsoincludes shared memory, including registers and addressable memory, toshare data between threads and to store output data.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment portions or all of inference and/or training logic 1115 maybe incorporated into graphics processor 3200. For example, in at leastone embodiment, training and/or inferencing techniques described hereinmay use one or more of ALUs embodied in 3D pipeline 3212. Moreover, inat least one embodiment, inferencing and/or training operationsdescribed herein may be done using logic other than logic illustrated inFIG. 11A or 11B. In at least one embodiment, weight parameters may bestored in on-chip or off-chip memory and/or registers (shown or notshown) that configure ALUs of graphics processor 3200 to perform one ormore machine learning algorithms, neural network architectures, usecases, or training techniques described herein.

FIG. 33 is a block diagram of a graphics processing engine 3310 of agraphics processor in accordance with at least one embodiment. In atleast one embodiment, graphics processing engine (GPE) 3310 is a versionof GPE 3210 shown in FIG. 32 . In at least one embodiment, a mediapipeline 3316 is optional and may not be explicitly included within GPE3310. In at least one embodiment, a separate media and/or imageprocessor is coupled to GPE 3310.

In at least one embodiment, GPE 3310 is coupled to or includes a commandstreamer 3303, which provides a command stream to a 3D pipeline 3312and/or media pipeline 3316. In at least one embodiment, command streamer3303 is coupled to memory, which can be system memory, or one or more ofinternal cache memory and shared cache memory. In at least oneembodiment, command streamer 3303 receives commands from memory andsends commands to 3D pipeline 3312 and/or media pipeline 3316. In atleast one embodiment, commands are instructions, primitives, ormicro-operations fetched from a ring buffer, which stores commands for3D pipeline 3312 and media pipeline 3316. In at least one embodiment, aring buffer can additionally include batch command buffers storingbatches of multiple commands. In at least one embodiment, commands for3D pipeline 3312 can also include references to data stored in memory,such as, but not limited to, vertex and geometry data for 3D pipeline3312 and/or image data and memory objects for media pipeline 3316. In atleast one embodiment, 3D pipeline 3312 and media pipeline 3316 processcommands and data by performing operations or by dispatching one or moreexecution threads to a graphics core array 3314. In at least oneembodiment, graphics core array 3314 includes one or more blocks ofgraphics cores (e.g., graphics core(s) 3315A, graphics core(s) 3315B),each block including one or more graphics cores. In at least oneembodiment, each graphics core includes a set of graphics executionresources that includes general-purpose and graphics specific executionlogic to perform graphics and compute operations, as well as fixedfunction texture processing and/or machine learning and artificialintelligence acceleration logic, including inference and/or traininglogic 1115 in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B.

In at least one embodiment, 3D pipeline 3312 includes fixed function andprogrammable logic to process one or more shader programs, such asvertex shaders, geometry shaders, pixel shaders, fragment shaders,compute shaders, or other shader programs, by processing instructionsand dispatching execution threads to graphics core array 3314. In atleast one embodiment, graphics core array 3314 provides a unified blockof execution resources for use in processing shader programs. In atleast one embodiment, a multi-purpose execution logic (e.g., executionunits) within graphics core(s) 3315A-3315B of graphic core array 3314includes support for various 3D API shader languages and can executemultiple simultaneous execution threads associated with multipleshaders.

In at least one embodiment, graphics core array 3314 also includesexecution logic to perform media functions, such as video and/or imageprocessing. In at least one embodiment, execution units additionallyinclude general-purpose logic that is programmable to perform parallelgeneral-purpose computational operations, in addition to graphicsprocessing operations.

In at least one embodiment, output data generated by threads executingon graphics core array 3314 can output data to memory in a unifiedreturn buffer (URB) 3318. In at least one embodiment, URB 3318 can storedata for multiple threads. In at least one embodiment, URB 3318 may beused to send data between different threads executing on graphics corearray 3314. In at least one embodiment, URB 3318 may additionally beused for synchronization between threads on graphics core array 3314 andfixed function logic within shared function logic 3320.

In at least one embodiment, graphics core array 3314 is scalable, suchthat graphics core array 3314 includes a variable number of graphicscores, each having a variable number of execution units based on atarget power and performance level of GPE 3310. In at least oneembodiment, execution resources are dynamically scalable, such thatexecution resources may be enabled or disabled as needed.

In at least one embodiment, graphics core array 3314 is coupled toshared function logic 3320 that includes multiple resources that areshared between graphics cores in graphics core array 3314. In at leastone embodiment, shared functions performed by shared function logic 3320are embodied in hardware logic units that provide specializedsupplemental functionality to graphics core array 3314. In at least oneembodiment, shared function logic 3320 includes but is not limited to asampler unit 3321, a math unit 3322, and inter-thread communication(ITC) logic 3323. In at least one embodiment, one or more cache(s) 3325are included in, or coupled to, shared function logic 3320.

In at least one embodiment, a shared function is used if demand for aspecialized function is insufficient for inclusion within graphics corearray 3314. In at least one embodiment, a single instantiation of aspecialized function is used in shared function logic 3320 and sharedamong other execution resources within graphics core array 3314. In atleast one embodiment, specific shared functions within shared functionlogic 3320 that are used extensively by graphics core array 3314 may beincluded within shared function logic 3616 within graphics core array3314. In at least one embodiment, shared function logic 3616 withingraphics core array 3314 can include some or all logic within sharedfunction logic 3320. In at least one embodiment, all logic elementswithin shared function logic 3320 may be duplicated within sharedfunction logic 3326 of graphics core array 3314. In at least oneembodiment, shared function logic 3320 is excluded in favor of sharedfunction logic 3326 within graphics core array 3314.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment portions or all of inference and/or training logic 1115 maybe incorporated into graphics processor 3310. For example, in at leastone embodiment, training and/or inferencing techniques described hereinmay use one or more of ALUs embodied in 3D pipeline 3312, graphicscore(s) 3315, shared function logic 3326, shared function logic 3320, orother logic in FIG. 33 . Moreover, in at least one embodiment,inferencing and/or training operations described herein may be doneusing logic other than logic illustrated in FIG. 11A or 11B. In at leastone embodiment, weight parameters may be stored in on-chip or off-chipmemory and/or registers (shown or not shown) that configure ALUs ofgraphics processor 3310 to perform one or more machine learningalgorithms, neural network architectures, use cases, or trainingtechniques described herein.

FIG. 34 is a block diagram of hardware logic of a graphics processorcore 3400, according to at least one embodiment described herein. In atleast one embodiment, graphics processor core 3400 is included within agraphics core array. In at least one embodiment, graphics processor core3400, sometimes referred to as a core slice, can be one or multiplegraphics cores within a modular graphics processor. In at least oneembodiment, graphics processor core 3400 is exemplary of one graphicscore slice, and a graphics processor as described herein may includemultiple graphics core slices based on target power and performanceenvelopes. In at least one embodiment, each graphics core 3400 caninclude a fixed function block 3430 coupled with multiple sub-cores3401A-3401F, also referred to as sub-slices, that include modular blocksof general-purpose and fixed function logic.

In at least one embodiment, fixed function block 3430 includes ageometry and fixed function pipeline 3436 that can be shared by allsub-cores in graphics processor 3400, for example, in lower performanceand/or lower power graphics processor implementations. In at least oneembodiment, geometry and fixed function pipeline 3436 includes a 3Dfixed function pipeline, a video front-end unit, a thread spawner andthread dispatcher, and a unified return buffer manager, which managesunified return buffers.

In at least one embodiment, fixed function block 3430 also includes agraphics SoC interface 3437, a graphics microcontroller 3438, and amedia pipeline 3439. In at least one embodiment, graphics SoC interface3437 provides an interface between graphics core 3400 and otherprocessor cores within a system on a chip integrated circuit. In atleast one embodiment, graphics microcontroller 3438 is a programmablesub-processor that is configurable to manage various functions ofgraphics processor 3400, including thread dispatch, scheduling, andpre-emption. In at least one embodiment, media pipeline 3439 includeslogic to facilitate decoding, encoding, pre-processing, and/orpost-processing of multimedia data, including image and video data. Inat least one embodiment, media pipeline 3439 implements media operationsvia requests to compute or sampling logic within sub-cores 3401A-3401F.

In at least one embodiment, SoC interface 3437 enables graphics core3400 to communicate with general-purpose application processor cores(e.g., CPUs) and/or other components within an SoC, including memoryhierarchy elements such as a shared last level cache memory, system RAM,and/or embedded on-chip or on-package DRAM. In at least one embodiment,SoC interface 3437 can also enable communication with fixed functiondevices within an SoC, such as camera imaging pipelines, and enables useof and/or implements global memory atomics that may be shared betweengraphics core 3400 and CPUs within an SoC. In at least one embodiment,graphics SoC interface 3437 can also implement power management controlsfor graphics processor core 3400 and enable an interface between a clockdomain of graphics processor core 3400 and other clock domains within anSoC. In at least one embodiment, SoC interface 3437 enables receipt ofcommand buffers from a command streamer and global thread dispatcherthat are configured to provide commands and instructions to each of oneor more graphics cores within a graphics processor. In at least oneembodiment, commands and instructions can be dispatched to mediapipeline 3439, when media operations are to be performed, or a geometryand fixed function pipeline (e.g., geometry and fixed function pipeline3436, and/or a geometry and fixed function pipeline 3414) when graphicsprocessing operations are to be performed.

In at least one embodiment, graphics microcontroller 3438 can beconfigured to perform various scheduling and management tasks forgraphics core 3400. In at least one embodiment, graphics microcontroller3438 can perform graphics and/or compute workload scheduling on variousgraphics parallel engines within execution unit (EU) arrays 3402A-3402F,3404A-3404F within sub-cores 3401A-3401F. In at least one embodiment,host software executing on a CPU core of an SoC including graphics core3400 can submit workloads to one of multiple graphic processor paths,which invokes a scheduling operation on an appropriate graphics engine.In at least one embodiment, scheduling operations include determiningwhich workload to run next, submitting a workload to a command streamer,pre-empting existing workloads running on an engine, monitoring progressof a workload, and notifying host software when a workload is complete.In at least one embodiment, graphics microcontroller 3438 can alsofacilitate low-power or idle states for graphics core 3400, providinggraphics core 3400 with an ability to save and restore registers withingraphics core 3400 across low-power state transitions independently froman operating system and/or graphics driver software on a system.

In at least one embodiment, graphics core 3400 may have greater than orfewer than illustrated sub-cores 3401A-3401F, up to N modular sub-cores.For each set of N sub-cores, in at least one embodiment, graphics core3400 can also include shared function logic 3410, shared and/or cachememory 3412, geometry/fixed function pipeline 3414, as well asadditional fixed function logic 3416 to accelerate various graphics andcompute processing operations. In at least one embodiment, sharedfunction logic 3410 can include logic units (e.g., sampler, math, and/orinter-thread communication logic) that can be shared by each N sub-coreswithin graphics core 3400. In at least one embodiment, shared and/orcache memory 3412 can be a last-level cache for N sub-cores 3401A-3401Fwithin graphics core 3400 and can also serve as shared memory that isaccessible by multiple sub-cores. In at least one embodiment,geometry/fixed function pipeline 3414 can be included instead ofgeometry/fixed function pipeline 3436 within fixed function block 3430and can include similar logic units.

In at least one embodiment, graphics core 3400 includes additional fixedfunction logic 3416 that can include various fixed function accelerationlogic for use by graphics core 3400. In at least one embodiment,additional fixed function logic 3416 includes an additional geometrypipeline for use in position-only shading. In position-only shading, atleast two geometry pipelines exist, whereas in a full geometry pipelinewithin geometry and fixed function pipelines 3414, 3436, and a cullpipeline, which is an additional geometry pipeline that may be includedwithin additional fixed function logic 3416. In at least one embodiment,a cull pipeline is a trimmed down version of a full geometry pipeline.In at least one embodiment, a full pipeline and a cull pipeline canexecute different instances of an application, each instance having aseparate context. In at least one embodiment, position only shading canhide long cull runs of discarded triangles, enabling shading to becompleted earlier in some instances. For example, in at least oneembodiment, cull pipeline logic within additional fixed function logic3416 can execute position shaders in parallel with a main applicationand generally generates critical results faster than a full pipeline, asa cull pipeline fetches and shades position attributes of vertices,without performing rasterization and rendering of pixels to a framebuffer. In at least one embodiment, a cull pipeline can use generatedcritical results to compute visibility information for all triangleswithout regard to whether those triangles are culled. In at least oneembodiment, a full pipeline (which in this instance may be referred toas a replay pipeline) can consume visibility information to skip culledtriangles to shade only visible triangles that are finally passed to arasterization phase.

In at least one embodiment, additional fixed function logic 3416 canalso include machine-learning acceleration logic, such as fixed functionmatrix multiplication logic, for implementations including optimizationsfor machine learning training or inferencing.

In at least one embodiment, within each graphics sub-core 3401A-3401Fincludes a set of execution resources that may be used to performgraphics, media, and compute operations in response to requests bygraphics pipeline, media pipeline, or shader programs. In at least oneembodiment, graphics sub-cores 3401A-3401F include multiple EU arrays3402A-3402F, 3404A-3404F, thread dispatch and inter-thread communication(TD/IC) logic 3403A-3403F, a 3D (e.g., texture) sampler 3405A-3405F, amedia sampler 3406A-3406F, a shader processor 3407A-3407F, and sharedlocal memory (SLM) 3408A-3408F. In at least one embodiment, EU arrays3402A-3402F, 3404A-3404F each include multiple execution units, whichare general-purpose graphics processing units capable of performingfloating-point and integer/fixed-point logic operations in service of agraphics, media, or compute operation, including graphics, media, orcompute shader programs. In at least one embodiment, TD/IC logic3403A-3403F performs local thread dispatch and thread control operationsfor execution units within a sub-core and facilitates communicationbetween threads executing on execution units of a sub-core. In at leastone embodiment, 3D samplers 3405A-3405F can read texture or other 3Dgraphics related data into memory. In at least one embodiment, 3Dsamplers can read texture data differently based on a configured samplestate and texture format associated with a given texture. In at leastone embodiment, media samplers 3406A-3406F can perform similar readoperations based on a type and format associated with media data. In atleast one embodiment, each graphics sub-core 3401A-3401F can alternatelyinclude a unified 3D and media sampler. In at least one embodiment,threads executing on execution units within each of sub-cores3401A-3401F can make use of shared local memory 3408A-3408F within eachsub-core, to enable threads executing within a thread group to executeusing a common pool of on-chip memory.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, portions or all of inference and/or training logic 1115 maybe incorporated into graphics processor 3410. For example, in at leastone embodiment, training and/or inferencing techniques described hereinmay use one or more of ALUs embodied in a 3D pipeline, graphicsmicrocontroller 3438, geometry and fixed function pipeline 3414 and3436, or other logic in FIG. 34 . Moreover, in at least one embodiment,inferencing and/or training operations described herein may be doneusing logic other than logic illustrated in FIG. 11A or 11B. In at leastone embodiment, weight parameters may be stored in on-chip or off-chipmemory and/or registers (shown or not shown) that configure ALUs ofgraphics processor 3400 to perform one or more machine learningalgorithms, neural network architectures, use cases, or trainingtechniques described herein.

FIGS. 35A-35B illustrate thread execution logic 3500 including an arrayof processing elements of a graphics processor core according to atleast one embodiment. FIG. 35A illustrates at least one embodiment, inwhich thread execution logic 3500 is used. FIG. 35B illustratesexemplary internal details of a graphics execution unit 3508, accordingto at least one embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 35A, in at least one embodiment, thread executionlogic 3500 includes a shader processor 3502, a thread dispatcher 3504,an instruction cache 3506, a scalable execution unit array including aplurality of execution units 3507A-3507N and 3508A-3508N, a sampler3510, a data cache 3512, and a data port 3514. In at least oneembodiment, a scalable execution unit array can dynamically scale byenabling or disabling one or more execution units (e.g., any ofexecution unit 3508A-N or 3507A-N) based on computational requirementsof a workload, for example. In at least one embodiment, scalableexecution units are interconnected via an interconnect fabric that linksto each execution unit. In at least one embodiment, thread executionlogic 3500 includes one or more connections to memory, such as systemmemory or cache memory, through one or more of instruction cache 3506,data port 3514, sampler 3510, and execution units 3507 or 3508. In atleast one embodiment, each execution unit (e.g., 3507A) is a stand-aloneprogrammable general-purpose computational unit that is capable ofexecuting multiple simultaneous hardware threads while processingmultiple data elements in parallel for each thread. In at least oneembodiment, array of execution units 3507 and/or 3508 is scalable toinclude any number individual execution units.

In at least one embodiment, execution units 3507 and/or 3508 areprimarily used to execute shader programs. In at least one embodiment,shader processor 3502 can process various shader programs and dispatchexecution threads associated with shader programs via a threaddispatcher 3504. In at least one embodiment, thread dispatcher 3504includes logic to arbitrate thread initiation requests from graphics andmedia pipelines and instantiate requested threads on one or moreexecution units in execution units 3507 and/or 3508. For example, in atleast one embodiment, a geometry pipeline can dispatch vertex,tessellation, or geometry shaders to thread execution logic forprocessing. In at least one embodiment, thread dispatcher 3504 can alsoprocess runtime thread spawning requests from executing shader programs.

In at least one embodiment, execution units 3507 and/or 3508 support aninstruction set that includes native support for many standard 3Dgraphics shader instructions, such that shader programs from graphicslibraries (e.g., Direct 3D and OpenGL) are executed with a minimaltranslation. In at least one embodiment, execution units support vertexand geometry processing (e.g., vertex programs, geometry programs,and/or vertex shaders), pixel processing (e.g., pixel shaders, fragmentshaders) and general-purpose processing (e.g., compute and mediashaders). In at least one embodiment, each of execution units 3507and/or 3508, which include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs), iscapable of multi-issue single instruction multiple data (SIMD) executionand multi-threaded operation enables an efficient execution environmentdespite higher latency memory accesses. In at least one embodiment, eachhardware thread within each execution unit has a dedicatedhigh-bandwidth register file and associated independent thread-state. Inat least one embodiment, execution is multi-issue per clock to pipelinescapable of integer, single and double precision floating pointoperations, SIMD branch capability, logical operations, transcendentaloperations, and other miscellaneous operations. In at least oneembodiment, while waiting for data from memory or one of sharedfunctions, dependency logic within execution units 3507 and/or 3508causes a waiting thread to sleep until requested data has been returned.In at least one embodiment, while an awaiting thread is sleeping,hardware resources may be devoted to processing other threads. Forexample, in at least one embodiment, during a delay associated with avertex shader operation, an execution unit can perform operations for apixel shader, fragment shader, or another type of shader program,including a different vertex shader.

In at least one embodiment, each execution unit in execution units 3507and/or 3508 operates on arrays of data elements. In at least oneembodiment, a number of data elements is an “execution size,” or numberof channels for an instruction. In at least one embodiment, an executionchannel is a logical unit of execution for data element access, masking,and flow control within instructions. In at least one embodiment, anumber of channels may be independent of a number of physical arithmeticlogic units (ALUs) or floating point units (FPUs) for a particulargraphics processor. In at least one embodiment, execution units 3507and/or 3508 support integer and floating-point data types.

In at least one embodiment, an execution unit instruction set includesSIMD instructions. In at least one embodiment, various data elements canbe stored as a packed data type in a register and execution unit willprocess various elements based on data size of elements. For example, inat least one embodiment, when operating on a 256-bit wide vector, 256bits of a vector are stored in a register and an execution unit operateson a vector as four separate 64-bit packed data elements (Quad-Word (QW)size data elements), eight separate 32-bit packed data elements (DoubleWord (DW) size data elements), sixteen separate 16-bit packed dataelements (Word (W) size data elements), or thirty-two separate 8-bitdata elements (byte (B) size data elements). However, in at least oneembodiment, different vector widths and register sizes are possible.

In at least one embodiment, one or more execution units can be combinedinto a fused execution unit 3509A-3509N having thread control logic(3511A-3511N) that is common to fused EUs such as execution unit 3507Afused with execution unit 3508A into fused execution unit 3509A. In atleast one embodiment, multiple EUs can be fused into an EU group. In atleast one embodiment, each EU in a fused EU group can be configured toexecute a separate SIMD hardware thread, with a number of EUs in a fusedEU group possibly varying according to various embodiments. In at leastone embodiment, various SIMD widths can be performed per-EU, includingbut not limited to SIMD8, SIMD16, and SIMD32. In at least oneembodiment, each fused graphics execution unit 3509A-3509N includes atleast two execution units. For example, in at least one embodiment,fused execution unit 3509A includes a first EU 3507A, second EU 3508A,and thread control logic 3511A that is common to first EU 3507A andsecond EU 3508A. In at least one embodiment, thread control logic 3511Acontrols threads executed on fused graphics execution unit 3509A,allowing each EU within fused execution units 3509A-3509N to executeusing a common instruction pointer register.

In at least one embodiment, one or more internal instruction caches(e.g., 3506) are included in thread execution logic 3500 to cache threadinstructions for execution units. In at least one embodiment, one ormore data caches (e.g., 3512) are included to cache thread data duringthread execution. In at least one embodiment, sampler 3510 is includedto provide texture sampling for 3D operations and media sampling formedia operations. In at least one embodiment, sampler 3510 includesspecialized texture or media sampling functionality to process textureor media data during sampling process before providing sampled data toan execution unit.

During execution, in at least one embodiment, graphics and mediapipelines send thread initiation requests to thread execution logic 3500via thread spawning and dispatch logic. In at least one embodiment, oncea group of geometric objects has been processed and rasterized intopixel data, pixel processor logic (e.g., pixel shader logic, fragmentshader logic, etc.) within shader processor 3502 is invoked to furthercompute output information and cause results to be written to outputsurfaces (e.g., color buffers, depth buffers, stencil buffers, etc.). Inat least one embodiment, a pixel shader or a fragment shader calculatesvalues of various vertex attributes that are to be interpolated across arasterized object. In at least one embodiment, pixel processor logicwithin shader processor 3502 then executes an application programminginterface (API)-supplied pixel or fragment shader program. In at leastone embodiment, to execute a shader program, shader processor 3502dispatches threads to an execution unit (e.g., 3508A) via threaddispatcher 3504. In at least one embodiment, shader processor 3502 usestexture sampling logic in sampler 3510 to access texture data in texturemaps stored in memory. In at least one embodiment, arithmetic operationson texture data and input geometry data compute pixel color data foreach geometric fragment, or discards one or more pixels from furtherprocessing.

In at least one embodiment, data port 3514 provides a memory accessmechanism for thread execution logic 3500 to output processed data tomemory for further processing on a graphics processor output pipeline.In at least one embodiment, data port 3514 includes or couples to one ormore cache memories (e.g., data cache 3512) to cache data for memoryaccess via a data port.

As illustrated in FIG. 35B, in at least one embodiment, a graphicsexecution unit 3508 can include an instruction fetch unit 3537, ageneral register file array (GRF) 3524, an architectural register filearray (ARF) 3526, a thread arbiter 3522, a send unit 3530, a branch unit3532, a set of SIMD floating point units (FPUs) 3534, and a set ofdedicated integer SIMD ALUs 3535. In at least one embodiment, GRF 3524and ARF 3526 includes a set of general register files and architectureregister files associated with each simultaneous hardware thread thatmay be active in graphics execution unit 3508. In at least oneembodiment, per thread architectural state is maintained in ARF 3526,while data used during thread execution is stored in GRF 3524. In atleast one embodiment, execution state of each thread, includinginstruction pointers for each thread, can be held in thread-specificregisters in ARF 3526.

In at least one embodiment, graphics execution unit 3508 has anarchitecture that is a combination of Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT)and fine-grained Interleaved Multi-Threading (IMT). In at least oneembodiment, architecture has a modular configuration that can befine-tuned at design time based on a target number of simultaneousthreads and number of registers per execution unit, where execution unitresources are divided across logic used to execute multiple simultaneousthreads.

In at least one embodiment, graphics execution unit 3508 can co-issuemultiple instructions, which may each be different instructions. In atleast one embodiment, thread arbiter 3522 of graphics execution unitthread 3508 can dispatch instructions to one of send unit 3530, branchunit 3532, or SIMD FPU(s) 3534 for execution. In at least oneembodiment, each execution thread can access 128 general-purposeregisters within GRF 3524, where each register can store 32 bytes,accessible as a SIMD 8-element vector of 32-bit data elements. In atleast one embodiment, each execution unit thread has access to 4kilobytes within GRF 3524, although embodiments are not so limited, andgreater or fewer register resources may be provided in otherembodiments. In at least one embodiment, up to seven threads can executesimultaneously, although a number of threads per execution unit can alsovary according to embodiments. In at least one embodiment, in whichseven threads may access 4 kilobytes, GRF 3524 can store a total of 28kilobytes. In at least one embodiment, flexible addressing modes canpermit registers to be addressed together to build effectively widerregisters or to represent strided rectangular block data structures.

In at least one embodiment, memory operations, sampler operations, andother longer-latency system communications are dispatched via “send”instructions that are executed by message passing to send unit 3530. Inat least one embodiment, branch instructions are dispatched to branchunit 3532 to facilitate SIMD divergence and eventual convergence.

In at least one embodiment, graphics execution unit 3508 includes one ormore SIMD floating point units (FPU(s)) 3534 to perform floating-pointoperations. In at least one embodiment, FPU(s) 3534 also support integercomputation. In at least one embodiment, FPU(s) 3534 can SIMD execute upto M number of 32-bit floating-point (or integer) operations, or SIMDexecute up to 2M 16-bit integer or 16-bit floating-point operations. Inat least one embodiment, at least one FPU provides extended mathcapability to support high-throughput transcendental math functions anddouble precision 64-bit floating-point. In at least one embodiment, aset of 8-bit integer SIMD ALUs 3535 are also present, and may bespecifically optimized to perform operations associated with machinelearning computations.

In at least one embodiment, arrays of multiple instances of graphicsexecution unit 3508 can be instantiated in a graphics sub-core grouping(e.g., a sub-slice). In at least one embodiment, execution unit 3508 canexecute instructions across a plurality of execution channels. In atleast one embodiment, each thread executed on graphics execution unit3508 is executed on a different channel.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, portions or all of inference and/or training logic 1115 maybe incorporated into thread execution logic 3500. Moreover, in at leastone embodiment, inferencing and/or training operations described hereinmay be done using logic other than logic illustrated in FIG. 11A or 11B.In at least one embodiment, weight parameters may be stored in on-chipor off-chip memory and/or registers (shown or not shown) that configureALUs thread of execution logic 3500 to perform one or more machinelearning algorithms, neural network architectures, use cases, ortraining techniques described herein.

FIG. 36 illustrates a parallel processing unit (“PPU”) 3600, accordingto at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, PPU 3600 isconfigured with machine-readable code that, if executed by PPU 3600,causes PPU 3600 to perform some or all of processes and techniquesdescribed throughout this disclosure. In at least one embodiment, PPU3600 is a multi-threaded processor that is implemented on one or moreintegrated circuit devices and that utilizes multithreading as alatency-hiding technique designed to process computer-readableinstructions (also referred to as machine-readable instructions orsimply instructions) on multiple threads in parallel. In at least oneembodiment, a thread refers to a thread of execution and is aninstantiation of a set of instructions configured to be executed by PPU3600. In at least one embodiment, PPU 3600 is a graphics processing unit(“GPU”) configured to implement a graphics rendering pipeline forprocessing three-dimensional (“3D”) graphics data in order to generatetwo-dimensional (“2D”) image data for display on a display device suchas a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) device. In at least one embodiment,PPU 3600 is utilized to perform computations such as linear algebraoperations and machine-learning operations. FIG. 36 illustrates anexample parallel processor for illustrative purposes only and should beconstrued as a non-limiting example of processor architecturescontemplated within scope of this disclosure and that any suitableprocessor may be employed to supplement and/or substitute for same.

In at least one embodiment, one or more PPUs 3600 are configured toaccelerate High Performance Computing (“HPC”), data center, and machinelearning applications. In at least one embodiment, PPU 3600 isconfigured to accelerate deep learning systems and applicationsincluding following non-limiting examples: autonomous vehicle platforms,deep learning, high-accuracy speech, image, text recognition systems,intelligent video analytics, molecular simulations, drug discovery,disease diagnosis, weather forecasting, big data analytics, astronomy,molecular dynamics simulation, financial modeling, robotics, factoryautomation, real-time language translation, online search optimizations,and personalized user recommendations, and more.

In at least one embodiment, PPU 3600 includes, without limitation, anInput/Output (“I/O”) unit 3606, a front-end unit 3610, a scheduler unit3612, a work distribution unit 3614, a hub 3616, a crossbar (“XBar”)3620, one or more general processing clusters (“GPCs”) 3618, and one ormore partition units (“memory partition units”) 3622. In at least oneembodiment, PPU 3600 is connected to a host processor or other PPUs 3600via one or more high-speed GPU interconnects (“GPU interconnects”) 3608.In at least one embodiment, PPU 3600 is connected to a host processor orother peripheral devices via a system bus 3602. In at least oneembodiment, PPU 3600 is connected to a local memory comprising one ormore memory devices (“memory”) 3604. In at least one embodiment, memorydevices 3604 include, without limitation, one or more dynamic randomaccess memory (“DRAM”) devices. In at least one embodiment, one or moreDRAM devices are configured and/or configurable as high-bandwidth memory(“HBM”) subsystems, with multiple DRAM dies stacked within each device.

In at least one embodiment, high-speed GPU interconnect 3608 may referto a wire-based multi-lane communications link that is used by systemsto scale and include one or more PPUs 3600 combined with one or morecentral processing units (“CPUs”), supports cache coherence between PPUs3600 and CPUs, and CPU mastering. In at least one embodiment, dataand/or commands are transmitted by high-speed GPU interconnect 3608through hub 3616 to/from other units of PPU 3600 such as one or morecopy engines, video encoders, video decoders, power management units,and other components which may not be explicitly illustrated in FIG. 36.

In at least one embodiment, I/O unit 3606 is configured to transmit andreceive communications (e.g., commands, data) from a host processor (notillustrated in FIG. 36 ) over system bus 3602. In at least oneembodiment, I/O unit 3606 communicates with host processor directly viasystem bus 3602 or through one or more intermediate devices such as amemory bridge. In at least one embodiment, I/O unit 3606 may communicatewith one or more other processors, such as one or more of PPUs 3600 viasystem bus 3602. In at least one embodiment, I/O unit 3606 implements aPeripheral Component Interconnect Express (“PCIe”) interface forcommunications over a PCIe bus. In at least one embodiment, I/O unit3606 implements interfaces for communicating with external devices.

In at least one embodiment, I/O unit 3606 decodes packets received viasystem bus 3602. In at least one embodiment, at least some packetsrepresent commands configured to cause PPU 3600 to perform variousoperations. In at least one embodiment, I/O unit 3606 transmits decodedcommands to various other units of PPU 3600 as specified by commands. Inat least one embodiment, commands are transmitted to front-end unit 3610and/or transmitted to hub 3616 or other units of PPU 3600 such as one ormore copy engines, a video encoder, a video decoder, a power managementunit, etc. (not explicitly illustrated in FIG. 36 ). In at least oneembodiment, I/O unit 3606 is configured to route communications betweenand among various logical units of PPU 3600.

In at least one embodiment, a program executed by host processor encodesa command stream in a buffer that provides workloads to PPU 3600 forprocessing. In at least one embodiment, a workload comprisesinstructions and data to be processed by those instructions. In at leastone embodiment, a buffer is a region in a memory that is accessible(e.g., read/write) by both a host processor and PPU 3600—a hostinterface unit may be configured to access that buffer in a systemmemory connected to system bus 3602 via memory requests transmitted oversystem bus 3602 by I/O unit 3606. In at least one embodiment, a hostprocessor writes a command stream to a buffer and then transmits apointer to a start of a command stream to PPU 3600 such that front-endunit 3610 receives pointers to one or more command streams and managesone or more command streams, reading commands from command streams andforwarding commands to various units of PPU 3600.

In at least one embodiment, front-end unit 3610 is coupled to schedulerunit 3612 that configures various GPCs 3618 to process tasks defined byone or more command streams. In at least one embodiment, scheduler unit3612 is configured to track state information related to various tasksmanaged by scheduler unit 3612 where state information may indicatewhich of GPCs 3618 a task is assigned to, whether task is active orinactive, a priority level associated with task, and so forth. In atleast one embodiment, scheduler unit 3612 manages execution of aplurality of tasks on one or more of GPCs 3618.

In at least one embodiment, scheduler unit 3612 is coupled to workdistribution unit 3614 that is configured to dispatch tasks forexecution on GPCs 3618. In at least one embodiment, work distributionunit 3614 tracks a number of scheduled tasks received from schedulerunit 3612 and work distribution unit 3614 manages a pending task pooland an active task pool for each of GPCs 3618. In at least oneembodiment, pending task pool comprises a number of slots (e.g., 32slots) that contain tasks assigned to be processed by a particular GPC3618; an active task pool may comprise a number of slots (e.g., 4 slots)for tasks that are actively being processed by GPCs 3618 such that asone of GPCs 3618 completes execution of a task, that task is evictedfrom that active task pool for GPC 3618 and another task from a pendingtask pool is selected and scheduled for execution on GPC 3618. In atleast one embodiment, if an active task is idle on GPC 3618, such aswhile waiting for a data dependency to be resolved, then that activetask is evicted from GPC 3618 and returned to that pending task poolwhile another task in that pending task pool is selected and scheduledfor execution on GPC 3618.

In at least one embodiment, work distribution unit 3614 communicateswith one or more GPCs 3618 via XBar 3620. In at least one embodiment,XBar 3620 is an interconnect network that couples many of units of PPU3600 to other units of PPU 3600 and can be configured to couple workdistribution unit 3614 to a particular GPC 3618. In at least oneembodiment, one or more other units of PPU 3600 may also be connected toXBar 3620 via hub 3616.

In at least one embodiment, tasks are managed by scheduler unit 3612 anddispatched to one of GPCs 3618 by work distribution unit 3614. In atleast one embodiment, GPC 3618 is configured to process task andgenerate results. In at least one embodiment, results may be consumed byother tasks within GPC 3618, routed to a different GPC 3618 via XBar3620, or stored in memory 3604. In at least one embodiment, results canbe written to memory 3604 via partition units 3622, which implement amemory interface for reading and writing data to/from memory 3604. In atleast one embodiment, results can be transmitted to another PPU 3604 orCPU via high-speed GPU interconnect 3608. In at least one embodiment,PPU 3600 includes, without limitation, a number U of partition units3622 that is equal to a number of separate and distinct memory devices3604 coupled to PPU 3600, as described in more detail herein inconjunction with FIG. 38 .

In at least one embodiment, a host processor executes a driver kernelthat implements an application programming interface (“API”) thatenables one or more applications executing on a host processor toschedule operations for execution on PPU 3600. In at least oneembodiment, multiple compute applications are simultaneously executed byPPU 3600 and PPU 3600 provides isolation, quality of service (“QoS”),and independent address spaces for multiple compute applications. In atleast one embodiment, an application generates instructions (e.g., inform of API calls) that cause a driver kernel to generate one or moretasks for execution by PPU 3600 and that driver kernel outputs tasks toone or more streams being processed by PPU 3600. In at least oneembodiment, each task comprises one or more groups of related threads,which may be referred to as a warp. In at least one embodiment, a warpcomprises a plurality of related threads (e.g., 32 threads) that can beexecuted in parallel. In at least one embodiment, cooperating threadscan refer to a plurality of threads including instructions to performtask and that exchange data through shared memory. In at least oneembodiment, threads and cooperating threads are described in more detailin conjunction with FIG. 38 .

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, deep learning application processor is used to train amachine learning model, such as a neural network, to predict or inferinformation provided to PPU 3600. In at least one embodiment, deeplearning application processor 3600 is used to infer or predictinformation based on a trained machine learning model (e.g., neuralnetwork) that has been trained by another processor or system or by PPU3600. In at least one embodiment, PPU 3600 may be used to perform one ormore neural network use cases described herein.

FIG. 37 illustrates a general processing cluster (“GPC”) 3700, accordingto at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, GPC 3700 is GPC3618 of FIG. 36 . In at least one embodiment, each GPC 3700 includes,without limitation, a number of hardware units for processing tasks andeach GPC 3700 includes, without limitation, a pipeline manager 3702, apre-raster operations unit (“preROP”) 3704, a raster engine 3708, a workdistribution crossbar (“WDX”) 3716, a memory management unit (“MMU”)3718, one or more Data Processing Clusters (“DPCs”) 3706, and anysuitable combination of parts.

In at least one embodiment, operation of GPC 3700 is controlled bypipeline manager 3702. In at least one embodiment, pipeline manager 3702manages configuration of one or more DPCs 3706 for processing tasksallocated to GPC 3700. In at least one embodiment, pipeline manager 3702configures at least one of one or more DPCs 3706 to implement at least aportion of a graphics rendering pipeline. In at least one embodiment,DPC 3706 is configured to execute a vertex shader program on aprogrammable streaming multi-processor (“SM”) 3714. In at least oneembodiment, pipeline manager 3702 is configured to route packetsreceived from a work distribution unit to appropriate logical unitswithin GPC 3700, in at least one embodiment, and some packets may berouted to fixed function hardware units in preROP 3704 and/or rasterengine 3708 while other packets may be routed to DPCs 3706 forprocessing by a primitive engine 3712 or SM 3714. In at least oneembodiment, pipeline manager 3702 configures at least one of DPCs 3706to implement a neural network model and/or a computing pipeline.

In at least one embodiment, preROP unit 3704 is configured, in at leastone embodiment, to route data generated by raster engine 3708 and DPCs3706 to a Raster Operations (“ROP”) unit in partition unit 3622,described in more detail above in conjunction with FIG. 36 . In at leastone embodiment, preROP unit 3704 is configured to perform optimizationsfor color blending, organize pixel data, perform address translations,and more. In at least one embodiment, raster engine 3708 includes,without limitation, a number of fixed function hardware units configuredto perform various raster operations, in at least one embodiment, andraster engine 3708 includes, without limitation, a setup engine, acoarse raster engine, a culling engine, a clipping engine, a fine rasterengine, a tile coalescing engine, and any suitable combination thereof.In at least one embodiment, setup engine receives transformed verticesand generates plane equations associated with geometric primitivedefined by vertices; plane equations are transmitted to a coarse rasterengine to generate coverage information (e.g., an x, y coverage mask fora tile) for primitive; output of a coarse raster engine is transmittedto a culling engine where fragments associated with a primitive thatfail a z-test are culled, and transmitted to a clipping engine wherefragments lying outside a viewing frustum are clipped. In at least oneembodiment, fragments that survive clipping and culling are passed to afine raster engine to generate attributes for pixel fragments based onplane equations generated by a setup engine. In at least one embodiment,an output of raster engine 3708 comprises fragments to be processed byany suitable entity, such as by a fragment shader implemented within DPC3706.

In at least one embodiment, each DPC 3706 included in GPC 3700comprises, without limitation, an M-Pipe Controller (“MPC”) 3710;primitive engine 3712; one or more SMs 3714; and any suitablecombination thereof. In at least one embodiment, MPC 3710 controlsoperation of DPC 3706, routing packets received from pipeline manager3702 to appropriate units in DPC 3706. In at least one embodiment,packets associated with a vertex are routed to primitive engine 3712,which is configured to fetch vertex attributes associated with a vertexfrom memory; in contrast, packets associated with a shader program maybe transmitted to SM 3714.

In at least one embodiment, SM 3714 comprises, without limitation, aprogrammable streaming processor that is configured to process tasksrepresented by a number of threads. In at least one embodiment, SM 3714is multi-threaded and configured to execute a plurality of threads(e.g., 32 threads) from a particular group of threads concurrently andimplements a Single-Instruction, Multiple-Data (“SIMD”) architecturewhere each thread in a group of threads (e.g., a warp) is configured toprocess a different set of data based on same set of instructions. In atleast one embodiment, all threads in group of threads execute a commonset of instructions. In at least one embodiment, SM 3714 implements aSingle-Instruction, Multiple Thread (“SIMT”) architecture wherein eachthread in a group of threads is configured to process a different set ofdata based on that common set of instructions, but where individualthreads in a group of threads are allowed to diverge during execution.In at least one embodiment, a program counter, call stack, and executionstate is maintained for each warp, enabling concurrency between warpsand serial execution within warps when threads within a warp diverge. Inanother embodiment, a program counter, call stack, and execution stateis maintained for each individual thread, enabling equal concurrencybetween all threads, within and between warps. In at least oneembodiment, execution state is maintained for each individual thread andthreads executing common instructions may be converged and executed inparallel for better efficiency. At least one embodiment of SM 3714 isdescribed in more detail herein.

In at least one embodiment, MMU 3718 provides an interface between GPC3700 and a memory partition unit (e.g., partition unit 3622 of FIG. 36 )and MMU 3718 provides translation of virtual addresses into physicaladdresses, memory protection, and arbitration of memory requests. In atleast one embodiment, MMU 3718 provides one or more translationlookaside buffers (“TLBs”) for performing translation of virtualaddresses into physical addresses in memory.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, deep learning application processor is used to train amachine learning model, such as a neural network, to predict or inferinformation provided to GPC 3700. In at least one embodiment, GPC 3700is used to infer or predict information based on a trained machinelearning model (e.g., neural network) that has been trained by anotherprocessor or system or by GPC 3700. In at least one embodiment, GPC 3700may be used to perform one or more neural network use cases describedherein.

FIG. 38 illustrates a memory partition unit 3800 of a parallelprocessing unit (“PPU”), in accordance with at least one embodiment. Inat least one embodiment, memory partition unit 3800 includes, withoutlimitation, a Raster Operations (“ROP”) unit 3802, a level two (“L2”)cache 3804, a memory interface 3806, and any suitable combinationthereof. In at least one embodiment, memory interface 3806 is coupled tomemory. In at least one embodiment, memory interface 3806 may implement32, 64, 128, 1024-bit data buses, or like, for high-speed data transfer.In at least one embodiment, PPU incorporates U memory interfaces 3806where U is a positive integer, with one memory interface 3806 per pairof partition units 3800, where each pair of partition units 3800 isconnected to a corresponding memory device. For example, in at least oneembodiment, PPU may be connected to up to Y memory devices, such as highbandwidth memory stacks or graphics double-data-rate, version 5,synchronous dynamic random access memory (“GDDR5 SDRAM”).

In at least one embodiment, memory interface 3806 implements a highbandwidth memory second generation (“HBM2”) memory interface and Yequals half of U. In at least one embodiment, HBM2 memory stacks arelocated on a physical package with a PPU, providing substantial powerand area savings compared with conventional GDDR5 SDRAM systems. In atleast one embodiment, each HBM2 stack includes, without limitation, fourmemory dies with Y=4, with each HBM2 stack including two 128-bitchannels per die for a total of 8 channels and a data bus width of 1024bits. In at least one embodiment, that memory supports Single-ErrorCorrecting Double-Error Detecting (“SECDED”) Error Correction Code(“ECC”) to protect data. In at least one embodiment, ECC can providehigher reliability for compute applications that are sensitive to datacorruption.

In at least one embodiment, PPU implements a multi-level memoryhierarchy. In at least one embodiment, memory partition unit 3800supports a unified memory to provide a single unified virtual addressspace for central processing unit (“CPU”) and PPU memory, enabling datasharing between virtual memory systems. In at least one embodimentfrequency of accesses by a PPU to a memory located on other processorsis traced to ensure that memory pages are moved to physical memory ofPPU that is accessing pages more frequently. In at least one embodiment,high-speed GPU interconnect 3608 supports address translation servicesallowing PPU to directly access a CPU's page tables and providing fullaccess to CPU memory by a PPU.

In at least one embodiment, copy engines transfer data between multiplePPUs or between PPUs and CPUs. In at least one embodiment, copy enginescan generate page faults for addresses that are not mapped into pagetables and memory partition unit 3800 then services page faults, mappingaddresses into page table, after which copy engine performs a transfer.In at least one embodiment, memory is pinned (i.e., non-pageable) formultiple copy engine operations between multiple processors,substantially reducing available memory. In at least one embodiment,with hardware page faulting, addresses can be passed to copy engineswithout regard as to whether memory pages are resident, and a copyprocess is transparent.

Data from memory 3604 of FIG. 36 or other system memory is fetched bymemory partition unit 3800 and stored in L2 cache 3804, which is locatedon-chip and is shared between various GPCs, in accordance with at leastone embodiment. Each memory partition unit 3800, in at least oneembodiment, includes, without limitation, at least a portion of L2 cacheassociated with a corresponding memory device. In at least oneembodiment, lower level caches are implemented in various units withinGPCs. In at least one embodiment, each of SMs 3714 in FIG. 37 mayimplement a Level 1 (“L1”) cache wherein that L1 cache is private memorythat is dedicated to a particular SM 3714 and data from L2 cache 3804 isfetched and stored in each L1 cache for processing in functional unitsof SMs 3714. In at least one embodiment, L2 cache 3804 is coupled tomemory interface 3806 and XBar 3620 shown in FIG. 36 .

ROP unit 3802 performs graphics raster operations related to pixelcolor, such as color compression, pixel blending, and more, in at leastone embodiment. ROP unit 3802, in at least one embodiment, implementsdepth testing in conjunction with raster engine 3708, receiving a depthfor a sample location associated with a pixel fragment from a cullingengine of raster engine 3708. In at least one embodiment, depth istested against a corresponding depth in a depth buffer for a samplelocation associated with a fragment. In at least one embodiment, if thatfragment passes that depth test for that sample location, then ROP unit3802 updates depth buffer and transmits a result of that depth test toraster engine 3708. It will be appreciated that a number of partitionunits 3800 may be different than a number of GPCs and, therefore, eachROP unit 3802 can, in at least one embodiment, be coupled to each GPC.In at least one embodiment, ROP unit 3802 tracks packets received fromdifferent GPCs and determines whether a result generated by ROP unit3802 is to be routed to through XBar 3620.

FIG. 39 illustrates a streaming multi-processor (“SM”) 3900, accordingto at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, SM 3900 is SM ofFIG. 37 . In at least one embodiment, SM 3900 includes, withoutlimitation, an instruction cache 3902, one or more scheduler units 3904,a register file 3908, one or more processing cores (“cores”) 3910, oneor more special function units (“SFUs”) 3912, one or more load/storeunits (“LSUs”) 3914, an interconnect network 3916, a shared memory/levelone (“L1”) cache 3918, and/or any suitable combination thereof.

In at least one embodiment, a work distribution unit dispatches tasksfor execution on general processing clusters (“GPCs”) of parallelprocessing units (“PPUs”) and each task is allocated to a particularData Processing Cluster (“DPC”) within a GPC and, if a task isassociated with a shader program, that task is allocated to one of SMs3900. In at least one embodiment, scheduler unit 3904 receives tasksfrom a work distribution unit and manages instruction scheduling for oneor more thread blocks assigned to SM 3900. In at least one embodiment,scheduler unit 3904 schedules thread blocks for execution as warps ofparallel threads, wherein each thread block is allocated at least onewarp. In at least one embodiment, each warp executes threads. In atleast one embodiment, scheduler unit 3904 manages a plurality ofdifferent thread blocks, allocating warps to different thread blocks andthen dispatching instructions from plurality of different cooperativegroups to various functional units (e.g., processing cores 3910, SFUs3912, and LSUs 3914) during each clock cycle.

In at least one embodiment, Cooperative Groups may refer to aprogramming model for organizing groups of communicating threads thatallows developers to express granularity at which threads arecommunicating, enabling expression of richer, more efficient paralleldecompositions. In at least one embodiment, cooperative launch APIssupport synchronization amongst thread blocks for execution of parallelalgorithms. In at least one embodiment, applications of conventionalprogramming models provide a single, simple construct for synchronizingcooperating threads: a barrier across all threads of a thread block(e.g., syncthreads( ) function). However, in at least one embodiment,programmers may define groups of threads at smaller than thread blockgranularities and synchronize within defined groups to enable greaterperformance, design flexibility, and software reuse in form ofcollective group-wide function interfaces. In at least one embodiment,Cooperative Groups enables programmers to define groups of threadsexplicitly at sub-block (i.e., as small as a single thread) andmulti-block granularities, and to perform collective operations such assynchronization on threads in a cooperative group. In at least oneembodiment, that programming model supports clean composition acrosssoftware boundaries, so that libraries and utility functions cansynchronize safely within their local context without having to makeassumptions about convergence. In at least one embodiment, CooperativeGroups primitives enable new patterns of cooperative parallelism,including, without limitation, producer-consumer parallelism,opportunistic parallelism, and global synchronization across an entiregrid of thread blocks.

In at least one embodiment, a dispatch unit 3906 is configured totransmit instructions to one or more functional units and scheduler unit3904 and includes, without limitation, two dispatch units 3906 thatenable two different instructions from a common warp to be dispatchedduring each clock cycle. In at least one embodiment, each scheduler unit3904 includes a single dispatch unit 3906 or additional dispatch units3906.

In at least one embodiment, each SM 3900, in at least one embodiment,includes, without limitation, register file 3908 that provides a set ofregisters for functional units of SM 3900. In at least one embodiment,register file 3908 is divided between each functional unit such thateach functional unit is allocated a dedicated portion of register file3908. In at least one embodiment, register file 3908 is divided betweendifferent warps being executed by SM 3900 and register file 3908provides temporary storage for operands connected to data paths offunctional units. In at least one embodiment, each SM 3900 comprises,without limitation, a plurality of L processing cores 3910, where L is apositive integer. In at least one embodiment, SM 3900 includes, withoutlimitation, a large number (e.g., 128 or more) of distinct processingcores 3910. In at least one embodiment, each processing core 3910includes, without limitation, a fully-pipelined, single-precision,double-precision, and/or mixed precision processing unit that includes,without limitation, a floating point arithmetic logic unit and aninteger arithmetic logic unit. In at least one embodiment, floatingpoint arithmetic logic units implement IEEE 754-2008 standard forfloating point arithmetic. In at least one embodiment, processing cores3910 include, without limitation, 64 single-precision (32-bit) floatingpoint cores, 64 integer cores, 32 double-precision (64-bit) floatingpoint cores, and 8 tensor cores.

Tensor cores are configured to perform matrix operations in accordancewith at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, one or moretensor cores are included in processing cores 3910. In at least oneembodiment, tensor cores are configured to perform deep learning matrixarithmetic, such as convolution operations for neural network trainingand inferencing. In at least one embodiment, each tensor core operateson a 4×4 matrix and performs a matrix multiply and accumulate operation,D=A×B+C, where A, B, C, and D are 4×4 matrices.

In at least one embodiment, matrix multiply inputs A and B are 16-bitfloating point matrices and accumulation matrices C and D are 16-bitfloating point or 32-bit floating point matrices. In at least oneembodiment, tensor cores operate on 16-bit floating point input datawith 32-bit floating point accumulation. In at least one embodiment,16-bit floating point multiply uses 64 operations and results in a fullprecision product that is then accumulated using 32-bit floating pointaddition with other intermediate products for a 4×4×4 matrix multiply.Tensor cores are used to perform much larger two-dimensional or higherdimensional matrix operations, built up from these smaller elements, inat least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, an API, such as aCUDA 9 C++ API, exposes specialized matrix load, matrix multiply andaccumulate, and matrix store operations to efficiently use tensor coresfrom a CUDA-C++ program. In at least one embodiment, at a CUDA level, awarp-level interface assumes 16×16 size matrices spanning all 32 threadsof warp.

In at least one embodiment, each SM 3900 comprises, without limitation,M SFUs 3912 that perform special functions (e.g., attribute evaluation,reciprocal square root, and like). In at least one embodiment, SFUs 3912include, without limitation, a tree traversal unit configured totraverse a hierarchical tree data structure. In at least one embodiment,SFUs 3912 include, without limitation, a texture unit configured toperform texture map filtering operations. In at least one embodiment,texture units are configured to load texture maps (e.g., a 2D array oftexels) from memory and sample texture maps to produce sampled texturevalues for use in shader programs executed by SM 3900. In at least oneembodiment, texture maps are stored in shared memory/L1 cache 3918. Inat least one embodiment, texture units implement texture operations suchas filtering operations using mip-maps (e.g., texture maps of varyinglevels of detail), in accordance with at least one embodiment. In atleast one embodiment, each SM 3900 includes, without limitation, twotexture units.

Each SM 3900 comprises, without limitation, N LSUs 3914 that implementload and store operations between shared memory/L1 cache 3918 andregister file 3908, in at least one embodiment. Interconnect network3916 connects each functional unit to register file 3908 and LSU 3914 toregister file 3908 and shared memory/L1 cache 3918 in at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, interconnect network 3916 is acrossbar that can be configured to connect any functional units to anyregisters in register file 3908 and connect LSUs 3914 to register file3908 and memory locations in shared memory/L1 cache 3918.

In at least one embodiment, shared memory/L1 cache 3918 is an array ofon-chip memory that allows for data storage and communication between SM3900 and primitive engine and between threads in SM 3900, in at leastone embodiment. In at least one embodiment, shared memory/L1 cache 3918comprises, without limitation, 128 KB of storage capacity and is in apath from SM 3900 to a partition unit. In at least one embodiment,shared memory/L1 cache 3918, in at least one embodiment, is used tocache reads and writes. In at least one embodiment, one or more ofshared memory/L1 cache 3918, L2 cache, and memory are backing stores.

Combining data cache and shared memory functionality into a singlememory block provides improved performance for both types of memoryaccesses, in at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,capacity is used or is usable as a cache by programs that do not useshared memory, such as if shared memory is configured to use half of acapacity, and texture and load/store operations can use remainingcapacity. Integration within shared memory/L1 cache 3918 enables sharedmemory/L1 cache 3918 to function as a high-throughput conduit forstreaming data while simultaneously providing high-bandwidth andlow-latency access to frequently reused data, in accordance with atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, when configured forgeneral purpose parallel computation, a simpler configuration can beused compared with graphics processing. In at least one embodiment,fixed function graphics processing units are bypassed, creating a muchsimpler programming model. In a general purpose parallel computationconfiguration, a work distribution unit assigns and distributes blocksof threads directly to DPCs, in at least one embodiment. In at least oneembodiment, threads in a block execute a common program, using a uniquethread ID in calculation to ensure each thread generates unique results,using SM 3900 to execute program and perform calculations, sharedmemory/L1 cache 3918 to communicate between threads, and LSU 3914 toread and write global memory through shared memory/L1 cache 3918 andmemory partition unit. In at least one embodiment, when configured forgeneral purpose parallel computation, SM 3900 writes commands thatscheduler unit 3904 can use to launch new work on DPCs.

In at least one embodiment, a PPU is included in or coupled to a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, servers, supercomputers,a smart-phone (e.g., a wireless, hand-held device), personal digitalassistant (“PDA”), a digital camera, a vehicle, a head mounted display,a hand-held electronic device, and more. In at least one embodiment, aPPU is embodied on a single semiconductor substrate. In at least oneembodiment, a PPU is included in a system-on-a-chip (“SoC”) along withone or more other devices such as additional PPUs, memory, a reducedinstruction set computer (“RISC”) CPU, a memory management unit (“MMU”),a digital-to-analog converter (“DAC”), and like.

In at least one embodiment, a PPU may be included on a graphics cardthat includes one or more memory devices. In at least one embodiment,that graphics card may be configured to interface with a PCIe slot on amotherboard of a desktop computer. In at least one embodiment, that PPUmay be an integrated graphics processing unit (“iGPU”) included inchipset of a motherboard.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B. In at least oneembodiment, deep learning application processor is used to train amachine learning model, such as a neural network, to predict or inferinformation provided to SM 3900. In at least one embodiment, SM 3900 isused to infer or predict information based on a trained machine learningmodel (e.g., neural network) that has been trained by another processoror system or by SM 3900. In at least one embodiment, SM 3900 may be usedto perform one or more neural network use cases described herein.

Embodiments are disclosed related a virtualized computing platform foradvanced computing, such as image inferencing and image processing inmedical applications. Without limitation, embodiments may includeradiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine,ultrasound, sonography, elastography, photoacoustic imaging, tomography,echocardiography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and magneticparticle imaging, or a combination thereof. In at least one embodiment,a virtualized computing platform and associated processes describedherein may additionally or alternatively be used, without limitation, inforensic science analysis, sub-surface detection and imaging (e.g., oilexploration, archaeology, paleontology, etc.), topography, oceanography,geology, osteology, meteorology, intelligent area or object tracking andmonitoring, sensor data processing (e.g., RADAR, SONAR, LIDAR, etc.),and/or genomics and gene sequencing.

With reference to FIG. 40 , FIG. 40 is an example data flow diagram fora process 4000 of generating and deploying an image processing andinferencing pipeline, in accordance with at least one embodiment. In atleast one embodiment, process 4000 may be deployed for use with imagingdevices, processing devices, genomics devices, gene sequencing devices,radiology devices, and/or other device types at one or more facilities4002, such as medical facilities, hospitals, healthcare institutes,clinics, research or diagnostic labs, etc. In at least one embodiment,process 4000 may be deployed to perform genomics analysis andinferencing on sequencing data. Examples of genomic analyses that may beperformed using systems and processes described herein include, withoutlimitation, variant calling, mutation detection, and gene expressionquantification.

In at least one embodiment, process 4000 may be executed within atraining system 4004 and/or a deployment system 4006. In at least oneembodiment, training system 4004 may be used to perform training,deployment, and implementation of machine learning models (e.g., neuralnetworks, object detection algorithms, computer vision algorithms, etc.)for use in deployment system 4006. In at least one embodiment,deployment system 4006 may be configured to offload processing andcompute resources among a distributed computing environment to reduceinfrastructure requirements at facility 4002. In at least oneembodiment, deployment system 4006 may provide a streamlined platformfor selecting, customizing, and implementing virtual instruments for usewith imaging devices (e.g., MRI, CT Scan, X-Ray, Ultrasound, etc.) orsequencing devices at facility 4002. In at least one embodiment, virtualinstruments may include software-defined applications for performing oneor more processing operations with respect to imaging data generated byimaging devices, sequencing devices, radiology devices, and/or otherdevice types. In at least one embodiment, one or more applications in apipeline may use or call upon services (e.g., inference, visualization,compute, AI, etc.) of deployment system 4006 during execution ofapplications.

In at least one embodiment, some of applications used in advancedprocessing and inferencing pipelines may use machine learning models orother AI to perform one or more processing steps. In at least oneembodiment, machine learning models may be trained at facility 4002using data 4008 (such as imaging data) generated at facility 4002 (andstored on one or more picture archiving and communication system (PACS)servers at facility 4002), may be trained using imaging or sequencingdata 4008 from another facility or facilities (e.g., a differenthospital, lab, clinic, etc.), or a combination thereof. In at least oneembodiment, training system 4004 may be used to provide applications,services, and/or other resources for generating working, deployablemachine learning models for deployment system 4006.

In at least one embodiment, a model registry 4024 may be backed byobject storage that may support versioning and object metadata. In atleast one embodiment, object storage may be accessible through, forexample, a cloud storage (e.g., a cloud 4126 of FIG. 41 ) compatibleapplication programming interface (API) from within a cloud platform. Inat least one embodiment, machine learning models within model registry4024 may uploaded, listed, modified, or deleted by developers orpartners of a system interacting with an API. In at least oneembodiment, an API may provide access to methods that allow users withappropriate credentials to associate models with applications, such thatmodels may be executed as part of execution of containerizedinstantiations of applications.

In at least one embodiment, a training pipeline 4104 (FIG. 41 ) mayinclude a scenario where facility 4002 is training their own machinelearning model, or has an existing machine learning model that needs tobe optimized or updated. In at least one embodiment, imaging data 4008generated by imaging device(s), sequencing devices, and/or other devicetypes may be received. In at least one embodiment, once imaging data4008 is received, AI-assisted annotation 4010 may be used to aid ingenerating annotations corresponding to imaging data 4008 to be used asground truth data for a machine learning model. In at least oneembodiment, AI-assisted annotation 4010 may include one or more machinelearning models (e.g., convolutional neural networks (CNNs)) that may betrained to generate annotations corresponding to certain types ofimaging data 4008 (e.g., from certain devices) and/or certain types ofanomalies in imaging data 4008. In at least one embodiment, AI-assistedannotations 4010 may then be used directly, or may be adjusted orfine-tuned using an annotation tool (e.g., by a researcher, a clinician,a doctor, a scientist, etc.), to generate ground truth data. In at leastone embodiment, in some examples, labeled clinic data 4012 (e.g.,annotations provided by a clinician, doctor, scientist, technician,etc.) may be used as ground truth data for training a machine learningmodel. In at least one embodiment, AI-assisted annotations 4010, labeledclinic data 4012, or a combination thereof may be used as ground truthdata for training a machine learning model. In at least one embodiment,a trained machine learning model may be referred to as an output model4016, and may be used by deployment system 4006, as described herein.

In at least one embodiment, training pipeline 4104 (FIG. 41 ) mayinclude a scenario where facility 4002 needs a machine learning modelfor use in performing one or more processing tasks for one or moreapplications in deployment system 4006, but facility 4002 may notcurrently have such a machine learning model (or may not have a modelthat is optimized, efficient, or effective for such purposes). In atleast one embodiment, an existing machine learning model may be selectedfrom model registry 4024. In at least one embodiment, model registry4024 may include machine learning models trained to perform a variety ofdifferent inference tasks on imaging data. In at least one embodiment,machine learning models in model registry 4024 may have been trained onimaging data from different facilities than facility 4002 (e.g.,facilities remotely located). In at least one embodiment, machinelearning models may have been trained on imaging data from one location,two locations, or any number of locations. In at least one embodiment,when being trained on imaging data from a specific location, trainingmay take place at that location, or at least in a manner that protectsconfidentiality of imaging data or restricts imaging data from beingtransferred off-premises (e.g., to comply with HIPAA regulations,privacy regulations, etc.). In at least one embodiment, once a model istrained—or partially trained—at one location, a machine learning modelmay be added to model registry 4024. In at least one embodiment, amachine learning model may then be retrained, or updated, at any numberof other facilities, and a retrained or updated model may be madeavailable in model registry 4024. In at least one embodiment, a machinelearning model may then be selected from model registry 4024—andreferred to as output model 4016—and may be used in deployment system4006 to perform one or more processing tasks for one or moreapplications of a deployment system.

In at least one embodiment, training pipeline 4104 (FIG. 41 ) may beused in a scenario that includes facility 4002 requiring a machinelearning model for use in performing one or more processing tasks forone or more applications in deployment system 4006, but facility 4002may not currently have such a machine learning model (or may not have amodel that is optimized, efficient, or effective for such purposes). Inat least one embodiment, a machine learning model selected from modelregistry 4024 might not be fine-tuned or optimized for imaging data 4008generated at facility 4002 because of differences in populations,genetic variations, robustness of training data used to train a machinelearning model, diversity in anomalies of training data, and/or otherissues with training data. In at least one embodiment, AI-assistedannotation 4010 may be used to aid in generating annotationscorresponding to imaging data 4008 to be used as ground truth data forretraining or updating a machine learning model. In at least oneembodiment, labeled clinic data 4012 (e.g., annotations provided by aclinician, doctor, scientist, etc.) may be used as ground truth data fortraining a machine learning model. In at least one embodiment,retraining or updating a machine learning model may be referred to asmodel training 4014. In at least one embodiment, model training4014—e.g., AI-assisted annotations 4010, labeled clinic data 4012, or acombination thereof—may be used as ground truth data for retraining orupdating a machine learning model.

In at least one embodiment, deployment system 4006 may include software4018, services 4020, hardware 4022, and/or other components, features,and functionality. In at least one embodiment, deployment system 4006may include a software “stack,” such that software 4018 may be built ontop of services 4020 and may use services 4020 to perform some or all ofprocessing tasks, and services 4020 and software 4018 may be built ontop of hardware 4022 and use hardware 4022 to execute processing,storage, and/or other compute tasks of deployment system 4006.

In at least one embodiment, software 4018 may include any number ofdifferent containers, where each container may execute an instantiationof an application. In at least one embodiment, each application mayperform one or more processing tasks in an advanced processing andinferencing pipeline (e.g., inferencing, object detection, featuredetection, segmentation, image enhancement, calibration, etc.). In atleast one embodiment, for each type of imaging device (e.g., CT, MM,X-Ray, ultrasound, sonography, echocardiography, etc.), sequencingdevice, radiology device, genomics device, etc., there may be any numberof containers that may perform a data processing task with respect toimaging data 4008 (or other data types, such as those described herein)generated by a device. In at least one embodiment, an advancedprocessing and inferencing pipeline may be defined based on selectionsof different containers that are desired or required for processingimaging data 4008, in addition to containers that receive and configureimaging data for use by each container and/or for use by facility 4002after processing through a pipeline (e.g., to convert outputs back to ausable data type, such as digital imaging and communications in medicine(DICOM) data, radiology information system (RIS) data, clinicalinformation system (CIS) data, remote procedure call (RPC) data, datasubstantially compliant with a representation state transfer (REST)interface, data substantially compliant with a file-based interface,and/or raw data, for storage and display at facility 4002). In at leastone embodiment, a combination of containers within software 4018 (e.g.,that make up a pipeline) may be referred to as a virtual instrument (asdescribed in more detail herein), and a virtual instrument may leverageservices 4020 and hardware 4022 to execute some or all processing tasksof applications instantiated in containers.

In at least one embodiment, a data processing pipeline may receive inputdata (e.g., imaging data 4008) in a DICOM, RIS, CIS, REST compliant,RPC, raw, and/or other format in response to an inference request (e.g.,a request from a user of deployment system 4006, such as a clinician, adoctor, a radiologist, etc.). In at least one embodiment, input data maybe representative of one or more images, video, and/or other datarepresentations generated by one or more imaging devices, sequencingdevices, radiology devices, genomics devices, and/or other device types.In at least one embodiment, data may undergo pre-processing as part ofdata processing pipeline to prepare data for processing by one or moreapplications. In at least one embodiment, post-processing may beperformed on an output of one or more inferencing tasks or otherprocessing tasks of a pipeline to prepare an output data for a nextapplication and/or to prepare output data for transmission and/or use bya user (e.g., as a response to an inference request). In at least oneembodiment, inferencing tasks may be performed by one or more machinelearning models, such as trained or deployed neural networks, which mayinclude output models 4016 of training system 4004.

In at least one embodiment, tasks of data processing pipeline may beencapsulated in a container(s) that each represent a discrete, fullyfunctional instantiation of an application and virtualized computingenvironment that is able to reference machine learning models. In atleast one embodiment, containers or applications may be published into aprivate (e.g., limited access) area of a container registry (describedin more detail herein), and trained or deployed models may be stored inmodel registry 4024 and associated with one or more applications. In atleast one embodiment, images of applications (e.g., container images)may be available in a container registry, and once selected by a userfrom a container registry for deployment in a pipeline, an image may beused to generate a container for an instantiation of an application foruse by a user's system.

In at least one embodiment, developers (e.g., software developers,clinicians, doctors, etc.) may develop, publish, and store applications(e.g., as containers) for performing image processing and/or inferencingon supplied data. In at least one embodiment, development, publishing,and/or storing may be performed using a software development kit (SDK)associated with a system (e.g., to ensure that an application and/orcontainer developed is compliant with or compatible with a system). Inat least one embodiment, an application that is developed may be testedlocally (e.g., at a first facility, on data from a first facility) withan SDK which may support at least some of services 4020 as a system(e.g., system 4100 of FIG. 41 ). In at least one embodiment, becauseDICOM objects may contain anywhere from one to hundreds of images orother data types, and due to a variation in data, a developer may beresponsible for managing (e.g., setting constructs for, buildingpre-processing into an application, etc.) extraction and preparation ofincoming DICOM data. In at least one embodiment, once validated bysystem 4100 (e.g., for accuracy, safety, patient privacy, etc.), anapplication may be available in a container registry for selectionand/or implementation by a user (e.g., a hospital, clinic, lab,healthcare provider, etc.) to perform one or more processing tasks withrespect to data at a facility (e.g., a second facility) of a user.

In at least one embodiment, developers may then share applications orcontainers through a network for access and use by users of a system(e.g., system 4100 of FIG. 41 ). In at least one embodiment, completedand validated applications or containers may be stored in a containerregistry and associated machine learning models may be stored in modelregistry 4024. In at least one embodiment, a requesting entity (e.g., auser at a medical facility)—who provides an inference or imageprocessing request—may browse a container registry and/or model registry4024 for an application, container, dataset, machine learning model,etc., select a desired combination of elements for inclusion in dataprocessing pipeline, and submit an imaging processing request. In atleast one embodiment, a request may include input data (and associatedpatient data, in some examples) that is necessary to perform a request,and/or may include a selection of application(s) and/or machine learningmodels to be executed in processing a request. In at least oneembodiment, a request may then be passed to one or more components ofdeployment system 4006 (e.g., a cloud) to perform processing of dataprocessing pipeline. In at least one embodiment, processing bydeployment system 4006 may include referencing selected elements (e.g.,applications, containers, models, etc.) from a container registry and/ormodel registry 4024. In at least one embodiment, once results aregenerated by a pipeline, results may be returned to a user for reference(e.g., for viewing in a viewing application suite executing on a local,on-premises workstation or terminal). In at least one embodiment, aradiologist may receive results from an data processing pipelineincluding any number of application and/or containers, where results mayinclude anomaly detection in X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, etc.

In at least one embodiment, to aid in processing or execution ofapplications or containers in pipelines, services 4020 may be leveraged.In at least one embodiment, services 4020 may include compute services,artificial intelligence (AI) services, visualization services, and/orother service types. In at least one embodiment, services 4020 mayprovide functionality that is common to one or more applications insoftware 4018, so functionality may be abstracted to a service that maybe called upon or leveraged by applications. In at least one embodiment,functionality provided by services 4020 may run dynamically and moreefficiently, while also scaling well by allowing applications to processdata in parallel (e.g., using a parallel computing platform 4130 (FIG.41 )). In at least one embodiment, rather than each application thatshares a same functionality offered by a service 4020 being required tohave a respective instance of service 4020, service 4020 may be sharedbetween and among various applications. In at least one embodiment,services may include an inference server or engine that may be used forexecuting detection or segmentation tasks, as non-limiting examples. Inat least one embodiment, a model training service may be included thatmay provide machine learning model training and/or retrainingcapabilities. In at least one embodiment, a data augmentation servicemay further be included that may provide GPU accelerated data (e.g.,DICOM, RIS, CIS, REST compliant, RPC, raw, etc.) extraction, resizing,scaling, and/or other augmentation. In at least one embodiment, avisualization service may be used that may add image renderingeffects—such as ray-tracing, rasterization, denoising, sharpening,etc.—to add realism to two-dimensional (2D) and/or three-dimensional(3D) models. In at least one embodiment, virtual instrument services maybe included that provide for beam-forming, segmentation, inferencing,imaging, and/or support for other applications within pipelines ofvirtual instruments.

In at least one embodiment, where a service 4020 includes an AI service(e.g., an inference service), one or more machine learning modelsassociated with an application for anomaly detection (e.g., tumors,growth abnormalities, scarring, etc.) may be executed by calling upon(e.g., as an API call) an inference service (e.g., an inference server)to execute machine learning model(s), or processing thereof, as part ofapplication execution. In at least one embodiment, where anotherapplication includes one or more machine learning models forsegmentation tasks, an application may call upon an inference service toexecute machine learning models for performing one or more of processingoperations associated with segmentation tasks. In at least oneembodiment, software 4018 implementing advanced processing andinferencing pipeline that includes segmentation application and anomalydetection application may be streamlined because each application maycall upon a same inference service to perform one or more inferencingtasks.

In at least one embodiment, hardware 4022 may include GPUs, CPUs,graphics cards, an AI/deep learning system (e.g., an AI supercomputer,such as NVIDIA's DGX supercomputer system), a cloud platform, or acombination thereof. In at least one embodiment, different types ofhardware 4022 may be used to provide efficient, purpose-built supportfor software 4018 and services 4020 in deployment system 4006. In atleast one embodiment, use of GPU processing may be implemented forprocessing locally (e.g., at facility 4002), within an AI/deep learningsystem, in a cloud system, and/or in other processing components ofdeployment system 4006 to improve efficiency, accuracy, and efficacy ofimage processing, image reconstruction, segmentation, MRI exams, strokeor heart attack detection (e.g., in real-time), image quality inrendering, etc. In at least one embodiment, a facility may includeimaging devices, genomics devices, sequencing devices, and/or otherdevice types on-premises that may leverage GPUs to generate imaging datarepresentative of a subject's anatomy.

In at least one embodiment, software 4018 and/or services 4020 may beoptimized for GPU processing with respect to deep learning, machinelearning, and/or high-performance computing, as non-limiting examples.In at least one embodiment, at least some of computing environment ofdeployment system 4006 and/or training system 4004 may be executed in adatacenter one or more supercomputers or high performance computingsystems, with GPU optimized software (e.g., hardware and softwarecombination of NVIDIA's DGX system). In at least one embodiment,datacenters may be compliant with provisions of HIPAA, such thatreceipt, processing, and transmission of imaging data and/or otherpatient data is securely handled with respect to privacy of patientdata. In at least one embodiment, hardware 4022 may include any numberof GPUs that may be called upon to perform processing of data inparallel, as described herein. In at least one embodiment, cloudplatform may further include GPU processing for GPU-optimized executionof deep learning tasks, machine learning tasks, or other computingtasks. In at least one embodiment, cloud platform (e.g., NVIDIA's NGC)may be executed using an AI/deep learning supercomputer(s) and/orGPU-optimized software (e.g., as provided on NVIDIA's DGX systems) as ahardware abstraction and scaling platform. In at least one embodiment,cloud platform may integrate an application container clustering systemor orchestration system (e.g., KUBERNETES) on multiple GPUs to enableseamless scaling and load balancing.

FIG. 41 is a system diagram for an example system 4100 for generatingand deploying an imaging deployment pipeline, in accordance with atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, system 4100 may beused to implement process 4000 of FIG. 40 and/or other processesincluding advanced processing and inferencing pipelines. In at least oneembodiment, system 4100 may include training system 4004 and deploymentsystem 4006. In at least one embodiment, training system 4004 anddeployment system 4006 may be implemented using software 4018, services4020, and/or hardware 4022, as described herein.

In at least one embodiment, system 4100 (e.g., training system 4004and/or deployment system 4006) may implemented in a cloud computingenvironment (e.g., using cloud 4126). In at least one embodiment, system4100 may be implemented locally with respect to a healthcare servicesfacility, or as a combination of both cloud and local computingresources. In at least one embodiment, in embodiments where cloudcomputing is implemented, patient data may be separated from, orunprocessed by, by one or more components of system 4100 that wouldrender processing non-compliant with HIPAA and/or other data handlingand privacy regulations or laws. In at least one embodiment, access toAPIs in cloud 4126 may be restricted to authorized users through enactedsecurity measures or protocols. In at least one embodiment, a securityprotocol may include web tokens that may be signed by an authentication(e.g., AuthN, AuthZ, Gluecon, etc.) service and may carry appropriateauthorization. In at least one embodiment, APIs of virtual instruments(described herein), or other instantiations of system 4100, may berestricted to a set of public IPs that have been vetted or authorizedfor interaction.

In at least one embodiment, various components of system 4100 maycommunicate between and among one another using any of a variety ofdifferent network types, including but not limited to local areanetworks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs) via wired and/orwireless communication protocols. In at least one embodiment,communication between facilities and components of system 4100 (e.g.,for transmitting inference requests, for receiving results of inferencerequests, etc.) may be communicated over a data bus or data busses,wireless data protocols (Wi-Fi), wired data protocols (e.g., Ethernet),etc.

In at least one embodiment, training system 4004 may execute trainingpipelines 4104, similar to those described herein with respect to FIG.40 . In at least one embodiment, where one or more machine learningmodels are to be used in deployment pipelines 4110 by deployment system4006, training pipelines 4104 may be used to train or retrain one ormore (e.g., pre-trained) models, and/or implement one or more ofpre-trained models 4106 (e.g., without a need for retraining orupdating). In at least one embodiment, as a result of training pipelines4104, output model(s) 4016 may be generated. In at least one embodiment,training pipelines 4104 may include any number of processing steps, suchas but not limited to imaging data (or other input data) conversion oradaption (e.g., using DICOM adapter 4102A to convert DICOM images toanother format suitable for processing by respective machine learningmodels, such as Neuroimaging Informatics Technology Initiative (NIfTI)format), AI-assisted annotation 4010, labeling or annotating of imagingdata 4008 to generate labeled clinic data 4012, model selection from amodel registry, model training 4014, training, retraining, or updatingmodels, and/or other processing steps. In at least one embodiment, fordifferent machine learning models used by deployment system 4006,different training pipelines 4104 may be used. In at least oneembodiment, training pipeline 4104 similar to a first example describedwith respect to FIG. 40 may be used for a first machine learning model,training pipeline 4104 similar to a second example described withrespect to FIG. 40 may be used for a second machine learning model, andtraining pipeline 4104 similar to a third example described with respectto FIG. 40 may be used for a third machine learning model. In at leastone embodiment, any combination of tasks within training system 4004 maybe used depending on what is required for each respective machinelearning model. In at least one embodiment, one or more of machinelearning models may already be trained and ready for deployment somachine learning models may not undergo any processing by trainingsystem 4004, and may be implemented by deployment system 4006.

In at least one embodiment, output model(s) 4016 and/or pre-trainedmodel(s) 4106 may include any types of machine learning models dependingon implementation or embodiment. In at least one embodiment, and withoutlimitation, machine learning models used by system 4100 may includemachine learning model(s) using linear regression, logistic regression,decision trees, support vector machines (SVM), Naïve Bayes, k-nearestneighbor (Knn), K means clustering, random forest, dimensionalityreduction algorithms, gradient boosting algorithms, neural networks(e.g., auto-encoders, convolutional, recurrent, perceptrons, Long/ShortTerm Memory (LSTM), Hopfield, Boltzmann, deep belief, deconvolutional,generative adversarial, liquid state machine, etc.), and/or other typesof machine learning models.

In at least one embodiment, training pipelines 4104 may includeAI-assisted annotation, as described in more detail herein with respectto at least FIG. 44B. In at least one embodiment, labeled clinic data4012 (e.g., traditional annotation) may be generated by any number oftechniques. In at least one embodiment, labels or other annotations maybe generated within a drawing program (e.g., an annotation program), acomputer aided design (CAD) program, a labeling program, another type ofprogram suitable for generating annotations or labels for ground truth,and/or may be hand drawn, in some examples. In at least one embodiment,ground truth data may be synthetically produced (e.g., generated fromcomputer models or renderings), real produced (e.g., designed andproduced from real-world data), machine-automated (e.g., using featureanalysis and learning to extract features from data and then generatelabels), human annotated (e.g., labeler, or annotation expert, defineslocation of labels), and/or a combination thereof. In at least oneembodiment, for each instance of imaging data 4008 (or other data typeused by machine learning models), there may be corresponding groundtruth data generated by training system 4004. In at least oneembodiment, AI-assisted annotation may be performed as part ofdeployment pipelines 4110; either in addition to, or in lieu ofAI-assisted annotation included in training pipelines 4104. In at leastone embodiment, system 4100 may include a multi-layer platform that mayinclude a software layer (e.g., software 4018) of diagnosticapplications (or other application types) that may perform one or moremedical imaging and diagnostic functions. In at least one embodiment,system 4100 may be communicatively coupled to (e.g., via encryptedlinks) PACS server networks of one or more facilities. In at least oneembodiment, system 4100 may be configured to access and referenced data(e.g., DICOM data, RIS data, raw data, CIS data, REST compliant data,RPC data, raw data, etc.) from PACS servers (e.g., via a DICOM adapter4102, or another data type adapter such as RIS, CIS, REST compliant,RPC, raw, etc.) to perform operations, such as training machine learningmodels, deploying machine learning models, image processing,inferencing, and/or other operations.

In at least one embodiment, a software layer may be implemented as asecure, encrypted, and/or authenticated API through which applicationsor containers may be invoked (e.g., called) from an externalenvironment(s) (e.g., facility 4002). In at least one embodiment,applications may then call or execute one or more services 4020 forperforming compute, AI, or visualization tasks associated withrespective applications, and software 4018 and/or services 4020 mayleverage hardware 4022 to perform processing tasks in an effective andefficient manner.

In at least one embodiment, deployment system 4006 may executedeployment pipelines 4110. In at least one embodiment, deploymentpipelines 4110 may include any number of applications that may besequentially, non-sequentially, or otherwise applied to imaging data(and/or other data types) generated by imaging devices, sequencingdevices, genomics devices, etc.—including AI-assisted annotation, asdescribed above. In at least one embodiment, as described herein, adeployment pipeline 4110 for an individual device may be referred to asa virtual instrument for a device (e.g., a virtual ultrasoundinstrument, a virtual CT scan instrument, a virtual sequencinginstrument, etc.). In at least one embodiment, for a single device,there may be more than one deployment pipeline 4110 depending oninformation desired from data generated by a device. In at least oneembodiment, where detections of anomalies are desired from an MRImachine, there may be a first deployment pipeline 4110, and where imageenhancement is desired from output of an MRI machine, there may be asecond deployment pipeline 4110.

In at least one embodiment, applications available for deploymentpipelines 4110 may include any application that may be used forperforming processing tasks on imaging data or other data from devices.In at least one embodiment, different applications may be responsiblefor image enhancement, segmentation, reconstruction, anomaly detection,object detection, feature detection, treatment planning, dosimetry, beamplanning (or other radiation treatment procedures), and/or otheranalysis, image processing, or inferencing tasks. In at least oneembodiment, deployment system 4006 may define constructs for each ofapplications, such that users of deployment system 4006 (e.g., medicalfacilities, labs, clinics, etc.) may understand constructs and adaptapplications for implementation within their respective facility. In atleast one embodiment, an application for image reconstruction may beselected for inclusion in deployment pipeline 4110, but data typegenerated by an imaging device may be different from a data type usedwithin an application. In at least one embodiment, DICOM adapter 4102B(and/or a DICOM reader) or another data type adapter or reader (e.g.,RIS, CIS, REST compliant, RPC, raw, etc.) may be used within deploymentpipeline 4110 to convert data to a form useable by an application withindeployment system 4006. In at least one embodiment, access to DICOM,RIS, CIS, REST compliant, RPC, raw, and/or other data type libraries maybe accumulated and pre-processed, including decoding, extracting, and/orperforming any convolutions, color corrections, sharpness, gamma, and/orother augmentations to data. In at least one embodiment, DICOM, RIS,CIS, REST compliant, RPC, and/or raw data may be unordered and apre-pass may be executed to organize or sort collected data. In at leastone embodiment, because various applications may share common imageoperations, in some embodiments, a data augmentation library (e.g., asone of services 4020) may be used to accelerate these operations. In atleast one embodiment, to avoid bottlenecks of conventional processingapproaches that rely on CPU processing, parallel computing platform 4130may be used for GPU acceleration of these processing tasks.

In at least one embodiment, an image reconstruction application mayinclude a processing task that includes use of a machine learning model.In at least one embodiment, a user may desire to use their own machinelearning model, or to select a machine learning model from modelregistry 4024. In at least one embodiment, a user may implement theirown machine learning model or select a machine learning model forinclusion in an application for performing a processing task. In atleast one embodiment, applications may be selectable and customizable,and by defining constructs of applications, deployment andimplementation of applications for a particular user are presented as amore seamless user experience. In at least one embodiment, by leveragingother features of system 4100—such as services 4020 and hardware4022—deployment pipelines 4110 may be even more user friendly, providefor easier integration, and produce more accurate, efficient, and timelyresults.

In at least one embodiment, deployment system 4006 may include a userinterface 4114 (e.g., a graphical user interface, a web interface, etc.)that may be used to select applications for inclusion in deploymentpipeline(s) 4110, arrange applications, modify or change applications orparameters or constructs thereof, use and interact with deploymentpipeline(s) 4110 during set-up and/or deployment, and/or to otherwiseinteract with deployment system 4006. In at least one embodiment,although not illustrated with respect to training system 4004, userinterface 4114 (or a different user interface) may be used for selectingmodels for use in deployment system 4006, for selecting models fortraining, or retraining, in training system 4004, and/or for otherwiseinteracting with training system 4004.

In at least one embodiment, pipeline manager 4112 may be used, inaddition to an application orchestration system 4128, to manageinteraction between applications or containers of deployment pipeline(s)4110 and services 4020 and/or hardware 4022. In at least one embodiment,pipeline manager 4112 may be configured to facilitate interactions fromapplication to application, from application to service 4020, and/orfrom application or service to hardware 4022. In at least oneembodiment, although illustrated as included in software 4018, this isnot intended to be limiting, and in some examples (e.g., as illustratedin FIG. 42 ) pipeline manager 4112 may be included in services 4020. Inat least one embodiment, application orchestration system 4128 (e.g.,Kubernetes, DOCKER, etc.) may include a container orchestration systemthat may group applications into containers as logical units forcoordination, management, scaling, and deployment. In at least oneembodiment, by associating applications from deployment pipeline(s) 4110(e.g., a reconstruction application, a segmentation application, etc.)with individual containers, each application may execute in aself-contained environment (e.g., at a kernel level) to increase speedand efficiency.

In at least one embodiment, each application and/or container (or imagethereof) may be individually developed, modified, and deployed (e.g., afirst user or developer may develop, modify, and deploy a firstapplication and a second user or developer may develop, modify, anddeploy a second application separate from a first user or developer),which may allow for focus on, and attention to, a task of a singleapplication and/or container(s) without being hindered by tasks ofanother application(s) or container(s). In at least one embodiment,communication, and cooperation between different containers orapplications may be aided by pipeline manager 4112 and applicationorchestration system 4128. In at least one embodiment, so long as anexpected input and/or output of each container or application is knownby a system (e.g., based on constructs of applications or containers),application orchestration system 4128 and/or pipeline manager 4112 mayfacilitate communication among and between, and sharing of resourcesamong and between, each of applications or containers. In at least oneembodiment, because one or more of applications or containers indeployment pipeline(s) 4110 may share same services and resources,application orchestration system 4128 may orchestrate, load balance, anddetermine sharing of services or resources between and among variousapplications or containers. In at least one embodiment, a scheduler maybe used to track resource requirements of applications or containers,current usage or planned usage of these resources, and resourceavailability. In at least one embodiment, a scheduler may thus allocateresources to different applications and distribute resources between andamong applications in view of requirements and availability of a system.In some examples, a scheduler (and/or other component of applicationorchestration system 4128) may determine resource availability anddistribution based on constraints imposed on a system (e.g., userconstraints), such as quality of service (QoS), urgency of need for dataoutputs (e.g., to determine whether to execute real-time processing ordelayed processing), etc.

In at least one embodiment, services 4020 leveraged by and shared byapplications or containers in deployment system 4006 may include computeservices 4116, AI services 4118, visualization services 4120, and/orother service types. In at least one embodiment, applications may call(e.g., execute) one or more of services 4020 to perform processingoperations for an application. In at least one embodiment, computeservices 4116 may be leveraged by applications to performsuper-computing or other high-performance computing (HPC) tasks. In atleast one embodiment, compute service(s) 4116 may be leveraged toperform parallel processing (e.g., using a parallel computing platform4130) for processing data through one or more of applications and/or oneor more tasks of a single application, substantially simultaneously. Inat least one embodiment, parallel computing platform 4130 (e.g.,NVIDIA's CUDA) may enable general purpose computing on GPUs (GPGPU)(e.g., GPUs 4122). In at least one embodiment, a software layer ofparallel computing platform 4130 may provide access to virtualinstruction sets and parallel computational elements of GPUs, forexecution of compute kernels. In at least one embodiment, parallelcomputing platform 4130 may include memory and, in some embodiments, amemory may be shared between and among multiple containers, and/orbetween and among different processing tasks within a single container.In at least one embodiment, inter-process communication (IPC) calls maybe generated for multiple containers and/or for multiple processeswithin a container to use same data from a shared segment of memory ofparallel computing platform 4130 (e.g., where multiple different stagesof an application or multiple applications are processing sameinformation). In at least one embodiment, rather than making a copy ofdata and moving data to different locations in memory (e.g., aread/write operation), same data in same location of a memory may beused for any number of processing tasks (e.g., at a same time, atdifferent times, etc.). In at least one embodiment, as data is used togenerate new data as a result of processing, this information of a newlocation of data may be stored and shared between various applications.In at least one embodiment, location of data and a location of updatedor modified data may be part of a definition of how a payload isunderstood within containers.

In at least one embodiment, AI services 4118 may be leveraged to performinferencing services for executing machine learning model(s) associatedwith applications (e.g., tasked with performing one or more processingtasks of an application). In at least one embodiment, AI services 4118may leverage AI system 4124 to execute machine learning model(s) (e.g.,neural networks, such as CNNs) for segmentation, reconstruction, objectdetection, feature detection, classification, and/or other inferencingtasks. In at least one embodiment, applications of deploymentpipeline(s) 4110 may use one or more of output models 4016 from trainingsystem 4004 and/or other models of applications to perform inference onimaging data (e.g., DICOM data, RIS data, CIS data, REST compliant data,RPC data, raw data, etc.). In at least one embodiment, two or moreexamples of inferencing using application orchestration system 4128(e.g., a scheduler) may be available. In at least one embodiment, afirst category may include a high priority/low latency path that mayachieve higher service level agreements, such as for performinginference on urgent requests during an emergency, or for a radiologistduring diagnosis. In at least one embodiment, a second category mayinclude a standard priority path that may be used for requests that maybe non-urgent or where analysis may be performed at a later time. In atleast one embodiment, application orchestration system 4128 maydistribute resources (e.g., services 4020 and/or hardware 4022) based onpriority paths for different inferencing tasks of AI services 4118.

In at least one embodiment, shared storage may be mounted to AI services4118 within system 4100. In at least one embodiment, shared storage mayoperate as a cache (or other storage device type) and may be used toprocess inference requests from applications. In at least oneembodiment, when an inference request is submitted, a request may bereceived by a set of API instances of deployment system 4006, and one ormore instances may be selected (e.g., for best fit, for load balancing,etc.) to process a request. In at least one embodiment, to process arequest, a request may be entered into a database, a machine learningmodel may be located from model registry 4024 if not already in a cache,a validation step may ensure appropriate machine learning model isloaded into a cache (e.g., shared storage), and/or a copy of a model maybe saved to a cache. In at least one embodiment, a scheduler (e.g., ofpipeline manager 4112) may be used to launch an application that isreferenced in a request if an application is not already running or ifthere are not enough instances of an application. In at least oneembodiment, if an inference server is not already launched to execute amodel, an inference server may be launched. In at least one embodiment,any number of inference servers may be launched per model. In at leastone embodiment, in a pull model, in which inference servers areclustered, models may be cached whenever load balancing is advantageous.In at least one embodiment, inference servers may be statically loadedin corresponding, distributed servers.

In at least one embodiment, inferencing may be performed using aninference server that runs in a container. In at least one embodiment,an instance of an inference server may be associated with a model (andoptionally a plurality of versions of a model). In at least oneembodiment, if an instance of an inference server does not exist when arequest to perform inference on a model is received, a new instance maybe loaded. In at least one embodiment, when starting an inferenceserver, a model may be passed to an inference server such that a samecontainer may be used to serve different models so long as inferenceserver is running as a different instance.

In at least one embodiment, during application execution, an inferencerequest for a given application may be received, and a container (e.g.,hosting an instance of an inference server) may be loaded (if notalready), and a start procedure may be called. In at least oneembodiment, pre-processing logic in a container may load, decode, and/orperform any additional pre-processing on incoming data (e.g., using aCPU(s) and/or GPU(s)). In at least one embodiment, once data is preparedfor inference, a container may perform inference as necessary on data.In at least one embodiment, this may include a single inference call onone image (e.g., a hand X-ray), or may require inference on hundreds ofimages (e.g., a chest CT). In at least one embodiment, an applicationmay summarize results before completing, which may include, withoutlimitation, a single confidence score, pixel level-segmentation,voxel-level segmentation, generating a visualization, or generating textto summarize findings. In at least one embodiment, different models orapplications may be assigned different priorities. For example, somemodels may have a real-time (TAT less than one minute) priority whileothers may have lower priority (e.g., TAT less than 10 minutes). In atleast one embodiment, model execution times may be measured fromrequesting institution or entity and may include partner networktraversal time, as well as execution on an inference service.

In at least one embodiment, transfer of requests between services 4020and inference applications may be hidden behind a software developmentkit (SDK), and robust transport may be provide through a queue. In atleast one embodiment, a request will be placed in a queue via an API foran individual application/tenant ID combination and an SDK will pull arequest from a queue and give a request to an application. In at leastone embodiment, a name of a queue may be provided in an environment fromwhere an SDK will pick it up. In at least one embodiment, asynchronouscommunication through a queue may be useful as it may allow any instanceof an application to pick up work as it becomes available. In at leastone embodiment, results may be transferred back through a queue, toensure no data is lost. In at least one embodiment, queues may alsoprovide an ability to segment work, as highest priority work may go to aqueue with most instances of an application connected to it, whilelowest priority work may go to a queue with a single instance connectedto it that processes tasks in an order received. In at least oneembodiment, an application may run on a GPU-accelerated instancegenerated in cloud 4126, and an inference service may performinferencing on a GPU.

In at least one embodiment, visualization services 4120 may be leveragedto generate visualizations for viewing outputs of applications and/ordeployment pipeline(s) 4110. In at least one embodiment, GPUs 4122 maybe leveraged by visualization services 4120 to generate visualizations.In at least one embodiment, rendering effects, such as ray-tracing, maybe implemented by visualization services 4120 to generate higher qualityvisualizations. In at least one embodiment, visualizations may include,without limitation, 2D image renderings, 3D volume renderings, 3D volumereconstruction, 2D tomographic slices, virtual reality displays,augmented reality displays, etc. In at least one embodiment, virtualizedenvironments may be used to generate a virtual interactive display orenvironment (e.g., a virtual environment) for interaction by users of asystem (e.g., doctors, nurses, radiologists, etc.). In at least oneembodiment, visualization services 4120 may include an internalvisualizer, cinematics, and/or other rendering or image processingcapabilities or functionality (e.g., ray tracing, rasterization,internal optics, etc.).

In at least one embodiment, hardware 4022 may include GPUs 4122, AIsystem 4124, cloud 4126, and/or any other hardware used for executingtraining system 4004 and/or deployment system 4006. In at least oneembodiment, GPUs 4122 (e.g., NVIDIA's TESLA and/or QUADRO GPUs) mayinclude any number of GPUs that may be used for executing processingtasks of compute services 4116, AI services 4118, visualization services4120, other services, and/or any of features or functionality ofsoftware 4018. For example, with respect to AI services 4118, GPUs 4122may be used to perform pre-processing on imaging data (or other datatypes used by machine learning models), post-processing on outputs ofmachine learning models, and/or to perform inferencing (e.g., to executemachine learning models). In at least one embodiment, cloud 4126, AIsystem 4124, and/or other components of system 4100 may use GPUs 4122.In at least one embodiment, cloud 4126 may include a GPU-optimizedplatform for deep learning tasks. In at least one embodiment, AI system4124 may use GPUs, and cloud 4126—or at least a portion tasked with deeplearning or inferencing—may be executed using one or more AI systems4124. As such, although hardware 4022 is illustrated as discretecomponents, this is not intended to be limiting, and any components ofhardware 4022 may be combined with, or leveraged by, any othercomponents of hardware 4022.

In at least one embodiment, AI system 4124 may include a purpose-builtcomputing system (e.g., a super-computer or an HPC) configured forinferencing, deep learning, machine learning, and/or other artificialintelligence tasks. In at least one embodiment, AI system 4124 (e.g.,NVIDIA's DGX) may include GPU-optimized software (e.g., a softwarestack) that may be executed using a plurality of GPUs 4122, in additionto CPUs, RAM, storage, and/or other components, features, orfunctionality. In at least one embodiment, one or more AI systems 4124may be implemented in cloud 4126 (e.g., in a data center) for performingsome or all of AI-based processing tasks of system 4100.

In at least one embodiment, cloud 4126 may include a GPU-acceleratedinfrastructure (e.g., NVIDIA's NGC) that may provide a GPU-optimizedplatform for executing processing tasks of system 4100. In at least oneembodiment, cloud 4126 may include an AI system(s) 4124 for performingone or more of AI-based tasks of system 4100 (e.g., as a hardwareabstraction and scaling platform). In at least one embodiment, cloud4126 may integrate with application orchestration system 4128 leveragingmultiple GPUs to enable seamless scaling and load balancing between andamong applications and services 4020. In at least one embodiment, cloud4126 may tasked with executing at least some of services 4020 of system4100, including compute services 4116, AI services 4118, and/orvisualization services 4120, as described herein. In at least oneembodiment, cloud 4126 may perform small and large batch inference(e.g., executing NVIDIA's TENSOR RT), provide an accelerated parallelcomputing API and platform 4130 (e.g., NVIDIA's CUDA), executeapplication orchestration system 4128 (e.g., KUBERNETES), provide agraphics rendering API and platform (e.g., for ray-tracing, 2D graphics,3D graphics, and/or other rendering techniques to produce higher qualitycinematics), and/or may provide other functionality for system 4100.

In at least one embodiment, in an effort to preserve patientconfidentiality (e.g., where patient data or records are to be usedoff-premises), cloud 4126 may include a registry—such as a deep learningcontainer registry. In at least one embodiment, a registry may storecontainers for instantiations of applications that may performpre-processing, post-processing, or other processing tasks on patientdata. In at least one embodiment, cloud 4126 may receive data thatincludes patient data as well as sensor data in containers, performrequested processing for just sensor data in those containers, and thenforward a resultant output and/or visualizations to appropriate partiesand/or devices (e.g., on-premises medical devices used for visualizationor diagnoses), all without having to extract, store, or otherwise accesspatient data. In at least one embodiment, confidentiality of patientdata is preserved in compliance with HIPAA and/or other dataregulations.

FIG. 42 includes an example illustration of a deployment pipeline 4110Afor processing imaging data, in accordance with at least one embodiment.In at least one embodiment, system 4100—and specifically deploymentsystem 4006—may be used to customize, update, and/or integratedeployment pipeline(s) 4110A into one or more production environments.In at least one embodiment, deployment pipeline 4110A of FIG. 42includes a non-limiting example of a deployment pipeline 4110A that maybe custom defined by a particular user (or team of users) at a facility(e.g., at a hospital, clinic, lab, research environment, etc.). In atleast one embodiment, to define deployment pipelines 4110A for a CTscanner 4202, a user may select—from a container registry, forexample—one or more applications that perform specific functions ortasks with respect to imaging data generated by CT scanner 4202. In atleast one embodiment, applications may be applied to deployment pipeline4110A as containers that may leverage services 4020 and/or hardware 4022of system 4100. In addition, deployment pipeline 4110A may includeadditional processing tasks or applications that may be implemented toprepare data for use by applications (e.g., DICOM adapter 4102B andDICOM reader 4206 may be used in deployment pipeline 4110A to preparedata for use by CT reconstruction 4208, organ segmentation 4210, etc.).In at least one embodiment, deployment pipeline 4110A may be customizedor selected for consistent deployment, one time use, or for anotherfrequency or interval. In at least one embodiment, a user may desire tohave CT reconstruction 4208 and organ segmentation 4210 for severalsubjects over a specific interval, and thus may deploy pipeline 4110Afor that period of time. In at least one embodiment, a user may select,for each request from system 4100, applications that a user wants toperform processing on that data for that request. In at least oneembodiment, deployment pipeline 4110A may be adjusted at any intervaland, because of adaptability and scalability of a container structurewithin system 4100, this may be a seamless process.

In at least one embodiment, deployment pipeline 4110A of FIG. 42 mayinclude CT scanner 4202 generating imaging data of a patient or subject.In at least one embodiment, imaging data from CT scanner 4202 may bestored on a PACS server(s) 4204 associated with a facility housing CTscanner 4202. In at least one embodiment, PACS server(s) 4204 mayinclude software and/or hardware components that may directly interfacewith imaging modalities (e.g., CT scanner 4202) at a facility. In atleast one embodiment, DICOM adapter 4102B may enable sending and receiptof DICOM objects using DICOM protocols. In at least one embodiment,DICOM adapter 4102B may aid in preparation or configuration of DICOMdata from PACS server(s) 4204 for use by deployment pipeline 4110A. Inat least one embodiment, once DICOM data is processed through DICOMadapter 4102B, pipeline manager 4112 may route data through todeployment pipeline 4110A. In at least one embodiment, DICOM reader 4206may extract image files and any associated metadata from DICOM data(e.g., raw sinogram data, as illustrated in visualization 4216A). In atleast one embodiment, working files that are extracted may be stored ina cache for faster processing by other applications in deploymentpipeline 4110A. In at least one embodiment, once DICOM reader 4206 hasfinished extracting and/or storing data, a signal of completion may becommunicated to pipeline manager 4112. In at least one embodiment,pipeline manager 4112 may then initiate or call upon one or more otherapplications or containers in deployment pipeline 4110A.

In at least one embodiment, CT reconstruction 4208 application and/orcontainer may be executed once data (e.g., raw sinogram data) isavailable for processing by CT reconstruction 4208 application. In atleast one embodiment, CT reconstruction 4208 may read raw sinogram datafrom a cache, reconstruct an image file out of raw sinogram data (e.g.,as illustrated in visualization 4216B), and store resulting image filein a cache. In at least one embodiment, at completion of reconstruction,pipeline manager 4112 may be signaled that reconstruction task iscomplete. In at least one embodiment, once reconstruction is complete,and a reconstructed image file may be stored in a cache (or otherstorage device), organ segmentation 4210 application and/or containermay be triggered by pipeline manager 4112. In at least one embodiment,organ segmentation 4210 application and/or container may read an imagefile from a cache, normalize or convert an image file to format suitablefor inference (e.g., convert an image file to an input resolution of amachine learning model), and run inference against a normalized image.In at least one embodiment, to run inference on a normalized image,organ segmentation 4210 application and/or container may rely onservices 4020, and pipeline manager 4112 and/or applicationorchestration system 4128 may facilitate use of services 4020 by organsegmentation 4210 application and/or container. In at least oneembodiment, for example, organ segmentation 4210 application and/orcontainer may leverage AI services 4118 to perform inference on anormalized image, and AI services 4118 may leverage hardware 4022 (e.g.,AI system 4124) to execute AI services 4118. In at least one embodiment,a result of an inference may be a mask file (e.g., as illustrated invisualization 4216C) that may be stored in a cache (or other storagedevice).

In at least one embodiment, once applications that process DICOM dataand/or data extracted from DICOM data have completed processing, asignal may be generated for pipeline manager 4112. In at least oneembodiment, pipeline manager 4112 may then execute DICOM writer 4212 toread results from a cache (or other storage device), package resultsinto a DICOM format (e.g., as DICOM output 4214) for use by users at afacility who generated a request. In at least one embodiment, DICOMoutput 4214 may then be transmitted to DICOM adapter 4102B to prepareDICOM output 4214 for storage on PACS server(s) 4204 (e.g., for viewingby a DICOM viewer at a facility). In at least one embodiment, inresponse to a request for reconstruction and segmentation,visualizations 4216B and 4216C may be generated and available to a userfor diagnoses, research, and/or for other purposes.

Although illustrated as consecutive application in deployment pipeline4110A, CT reconstruction 4208 and organ segmentation 4210 applicationsmay be processed in parallel in at least one embodiment. In at least oneembodiment, where applications do not have dependencies on one another,and data is available for each application (e.g., after DICOM reader4206 extracts data), applications may be executed at a same time,substantially at a same time, or with some overlap. In at least oneembodiment, where two or more applications require similar services4020, a scheduler of system 4100 may be used to load balance anddistribute compute or processing resources between and among variousapplications. In at least one embodiment, in some embodiments, parallelcomputing platform 4130 may be used to perform parallel processing forapplications to decrease run-time of deployment pipeline 4110A toprovide real-time results.

In at least one embodiment, and with reference to FIGS. 43A-43B,deployment system 4006 may be implemented as one or more virtualinstruments to perform different functionalities—such as imageprocessing, segmentation, enhancement, AI, visualization, andinferencing—with imaging devices (e.g., CT scanners, X-ray machines, MRImachines, etc.), sequencing devices, genomics devices, and/or otherdevice types. In at least one embodiment, system 4100 may allow forcreation and provision of virtual instruments that may include asoftware-defined deployment pipeline 4110 that may receiveraw/unprocessed input data generated by a device(s) and outputprocessed/reconstructed data. In at least one embodiment, deploymentpipelines 4110 (e.g., 4110A and 4110B) that represent virtualinstruments may implement intelligence into a pipeline, such as byleveraging machine learning models, to provide containerized inferencesupport to a system. In at least one embodiment, virtual instruments mayexecute any number of containers each including instantiations ofapplications. In at least one embodiment, such as where real-timeprocessing is desired, deployment pipelines 4110 representing virtualinstruments may be static (e.g., containers and/or applications may beset), while in other examples, container and/or applications for virtualinstruments may be selected (e.g., on a per-request basis) from a poolof applications or resources (e.g., within a container registry).

In at least one embodiment, system 4100 may be instantiated or executedas one or more virtual instruments on-premise at a facility in, forexample, a computing system deployed next to or otherwise incommunication with a radiology machine, an imaging device, and/oranother device type at a facility. In at least one embodiment, however,an on-premise installation may be instantiated or executed within acomputing system of a device itself (e.g., a computing system integralto an imaging device), in a local datacenter (e.g., a datacenteron-premise), and/or in a cloud-environment (e.g., in cloud 4126). In atleast one embodiment, deployment system 4006, operating as a virtualinstrument, may be instantiated by a supercomputer or other RPC systemin some examples. In at least one embodiment, on-premise installationmay allow for high-bandwidth uses (via, for example, higher throughputlocal communication interfaces, such as RF over Ethernet) for real-timeprocessing. In at least one embodiment, real-time or near real-timeprocessing may be particularly useful where a virtual instrumentsupports an ultrasound device or other imaging modality where immediatevisualizations are expected or required for accurate diagnoses andanalyses. In at least one embodiment, a cloud-computing architecture maybe capable of dynamic bursting to a cloud computing service provider, orother compute cluster, when local demand exceeds on-premise capacity orcapability. In at least one embodiment, a cloud architecture, whenimplemented, may be tuned for training neural networks or other machinelearning models, as described herein with respect to training system4004. In at least one embodiment, with training pipelines in place,machine learning models may be continuously learn and improve as theyprocess additional data from devices they support. In at least oneembodiment, virtual instruments may be continually improved usingadditional data, new data, existing machine learning models, and/or newor updated machine learning models.

In at least one embodiment, a computing system may include some or allof hardware 4022 described herein, and hardware 4022 may be distributedin any of a number of ways including within a device, as part of acomputing device coupled to and located proximate a device, in a localdatacenter at a facility, and/or in cloud 4126. In at least oneembodiment, because deployment system 4006 and associated applicationsor containers are created in software (e.g., as discrete containerizedinstantiations of applications), behavior, operation, and configurationof virtual instruments, as well as outputs generated by virtualinstruments, may be modified or customized as desired, without having tochange or alter raw output of a device that a virtual instrumentsupports.

FIG. 43A includes an example data flow diagram of a virtual instrumentsupporting an ultrasound device, in accordance with at least oneembodiment. In at least one embodiment, deployment pipeline 4110B mayleverage one or more of services 4020 of system 4100. In at least oneembodiment, deployment pipeline 4110B and services 4020 may leveragehardware 4022 of a system either locally or in cloud 4126. In at leastone embodiment, although not illustrated, process 4300 may befacilitated by pipeline manager 4112, application orchestration system4128, and/or parallel computing platform 4130.

In at least one embodiment, process 4300 may include receipt of imagingdata from an ultrasound device 4302. In at least one embodiment, imagingdata may be stored on PACS server(s) in a DICOM format (or other format,such as RIS, CIS, REST compliant, RPC, raw, etc.), and may be receivedby system 4100 for processing through deployment pipeline 4110 selectedor customized as a virtual instrument (e.g., a virtual ultrasound) forultrasound device 4302. In at least one embodiment, imaging data may bereceived directly from an imaging device (e.g., ultrasound device 4302)and processed by a virtual instrument. In at least one embodiment, atransducer or other signal converter communicatively coupled between animaging device and a virtual instrument may convert signal datagenerated by an imaging device to image data that may be processed by avirtual instrument. In at least one embodiment, raw data and/or imagedata may be applied to DICOM reader 4206 to extract data for use byapplications or containers of deployment pipeline 4110B. In at least oneembodiment, DICOM reader 4206 may leverage data augmentation library4314 (e.g., NVIDIA's DALI) as a service 4020 (e.g., as one of computeservice(s) 4116) for extracting, resizing, rescaling, and/or otherwisepreparing data for use by applications or containers.

In at least one embodiment, once data is prepared, a reconstruction 4306application and/or container may be executed to reconstruct data fromultrasound device 4302 into an image file. In at least one embodiment,after reconstruction 4306, or at a same time as reconstruction 4306, adetection 4308 application and/or container may be executed for anomalydetection, object detection, feature detection, and/or other detectiontasks related to data. In at least one embodiment, an image filegenerated during reconstruction 4306 may be used during detection 4308to identify anomalies, objects, features, etc. In at least oneembodiment, detection 4308 application may leverage an inference engine4316 (e.g., as one of AI service(s) 4118) to perform inference on datato generate detections. In at least one embodiment, one or more machinelearning models (e.g., from training system 4004) may be executed orcalled by detection 4308 application.

In at least one embodiment, once reconstruction 4306 and/or detection4308 is/are complete, data output from these application and/orcontainers may be used to generate visualizations 4310, such asvisualization 4312 (e.g., a grayscale output) displayed on a workstationor display terminal. In at least one embodiment, visualization may allowa technician or other user to visualize results of deployment pipeline4110B with respect to ultrasound device 4302. In at least oneembodiment, visualization 4310 may be executed by leveraging a rendercomponent 4318 of system 4100 (e.g., one of visualization service(s)4120). In at least one embodiment, render component 4318 may execute a2D, OpenGL, or ray-tracing service to generate visualization 4312.

FIG. 43B includes an example data flow diagram of a virtual instrumentsupporting a CT scanner, in accordance with at least one embodiment. Inat least one embodiment, deployment pipeline 4110C may leverage one ormore of services 4020 of system 4100. In at least one embodiment,deployment pipeline 4110C and services 4020 may leverage hardware 4022of a system either locally or in cloud 4126. In at least one embodiment,although not illustrated, process 4320 may be facilitated by pipelinemanager 4112, application orchestration system 4128, and/or parallelcomputing platform 4130.

In at least one embodiment, process 4320 may include CT scanner 4322generating raw data that may be received by DICOM reader 4206 (e.g.,directly, via a PACS server 4204, after processing, etc.). In at leastone embodiment, a Virtual CT (instantiated by deployment pipeline 4110C)may include a first, real-time pipeline for monitoring a patient (e.g.,patient movement detection AI 4326) and/or for adjusting or optimizingexposure of CT scanner 4322 (e.g., using exposure control AI 4324). Inat least one embodiment, one or more of applications (e.g., 4324 and4326) may leverage a service 4020, such as AI service(s) 4118. In atleast one embodiment, outputs of exposure control AI 4324 application(or container) and/or patient movement detection AI 4326 application (orcontainer) may be used as feedback to CT scanner 4322 and/or atechnician for adjusting exposure (or other settings of CT scanner 4322)and/or informing a patient to move less.

In at least one embodiment, deployment pipeline 4110C may include anon-real-time pipeline for analyzing data generated by CT scanner 4322.In at least one embodiment, a second pipeline may include CTreconstruction 4208 application and/or container, a coarse detection AI4328 application and/or container, a fine detection AI 4332 applicationand/or container (e.g., where certain results are detected by coarsedetection AI 4328), a visualization 4330 application and/or container,and a DICOM writer 4212 (and/or other data type writer, such as RIS,CIS, REST compliant, RPC, raw, etc.) application and/or container. In atleast one embodiment, raw data generated by CT scanner 4322 may bepassed through pipelines of deployment pipeline 4110C (instantiated as avirtual CT instrument) to generate results. In at least one embodiment,results from DICOM writer 4212 may be transmitted for display and/or maybe stored on PACS server(s) 4204 for later retrieval, analysis, ordisplay by a technician, practitioner, or other user.

FIG. 44A illustrates a data flow diagram for a process 4400 to train,retrain, or update a machine learning model, in accordance with at leastone embodiment. In at least one embodiment, process 4400 may be executedusing, as a non-limiting example, system 4100 of FIG. 41 . In at leastone embodiment, process 4400 may leverage services 4020 and/or hardware4022 of system 4100, as described herein. In at least one embodiment,refined models 4412 generated by process 4400 may be executed bydeployment system 4006 for one or more containerized applications indeployment pipelines 4110.

In at least one embodiment, model training 4014 may include retrainingor updating an initial model 4404 (e.g., a pre-trained model) using newtraining data (e.g., new input data, such as customer dataset 4406,and/or new ground truth data associated with input data). In at leastone embodiment, to retrain, or update, initial model 4404, output orloss layer(s) of initial model 4404 may be reset, or deleted, and/orreplaced with an updated or new output or loss layer(s). In at least oneembodiment, initial model 4404 may have previously fine-tuned parameters(e.g., weights and/or biases) that remain from prior training, sotraining or retraining 4014 may not take as long or require as muchprocessing as training a model from scratch. In at least one embodiment,during model training 4014, by having reset or replaced output or losslayer(s) of initial model 4404, parameters may be updated and re-tunedfor a new data set based on loss calculations associated with accuracyof output or loss layer(s) at generating predictions on new, customerdataset 4406 (e.g., image data 4008 of FIG. 40 ).

In at least one embodiment, pre-trained models 4106 may be stored in adata store, or registry (e.g., model registry 4024 of FIG. 40 ). In atleast one embodiment, pre-trained models 4106 may have been trained, atleast in part, at one or more facilities other than a facility executingprocess 4400. In at least one embodiment, to protect privacy and rightsof patients, subjects, or clients of different facilities, pre-trainedmodels 4106 may have been trained, on-premise, using customer or patientdata generated on-premise. In at least one embodiment, pre-trainedmodels 4106 may be trained using cloud 4126 and/or other hardware 4022,but confidential, privacy protected patient data may not be transferredto, used by, or accessible to any components of cloud 4126 (or other offpremise hardware). In at least one embodiment, where a pre-trained model4106 is trained at using patient data from more than one facility,pre-trained model 4106 may have been individually trained for eachfacility prior to being trained on patient or customer data from anotherfacility. In at least one embodiment, such as where a customer orpatient data has been released of privacy concerns (e.g., by waiver, forexperimental use, etc.), or where a customer or patient data is includedin a public data set, a customer or patient data from any number offacilities may be used to train pre-trained model 4106 on-premise and/oroff premise, such as in a datacenter or other cloud computinginfrastructure.

In at least one embodiment, when selecting applications for use indeployment pipelines 4110, a user may also select machine learningmodels to be used for specific applications. In at least one embodiment,a user may not have a model for use, so a user may select a pre-trainedmodel 4106 to use with an application. In at least one embodiment,pre-trained model 4106 may not be optimized for generating accurateresults on customer dataset 4406 of a facility of a user (e.g., based onpatient diversity, demographics, types of medical imaging devices used,etc.). In at least one embodiment, prior to deploying pre-trained model4106 into deployment pipeline 4110 for use with an application(s),pre-trained model 4106 may be updated, retrained, and/or fine-tuned foruse at a respective facility.

In at least one embodiment, a user may select pre-trained model 4106that is to be updated, retrained, and/or fine-tuned, and pre-trainedmodel 4106 may be referred to as initial model 4404 for training system4004 within process 4400. In at least one embodiment, customer dataset4406 (e.g., imaging data, genomics data, sequencing data, or other datatypes generated by devices at a facility) may be used to perform modeltraining 4014 (which may include, without limitation, transfer learning)on initial model 4404 to generate refined model 4412. In at least oneembodiment, ground truth data corresponding to customer dataset 4406 maybe generated by training system 4004. In at least one embodiment, groundtruth data may be generated, at least in part, by clinicians,scientists, doctors, practitioners, at a facility (e.g., as labeledclinic data 4012 of FIG. 40 ).

In at least one embodiment, AI-assisted annotation 4010 may be used insome examples to generate ground truth data. In at least one embodiment,AI-assisted annotation 4010 (e.g., implemented using an AI-assistedannotation SDK) may leverage machine learning models (e.g., neuralnetworks) to generate suggested or predicted ground truth data for acustomer dataset. In at least one embodiment, user 4410 may useannotation tools within a user interface (a graphical user interface(GUI)) on computing device 4408.

In at least one embodiment, user 4410 may interact with a GUI viacomputing device 4408 to edit or fine-tune annotations orauto-annotations. In at least one embodiment, a polygon editing featuremay be used to move vertices of a polygon to more accurate or fine-tunedlocations.

In at least one embodiment, once customer dataset 4406 has associatedground truth data, ground truth data (e.g., from AI-assisted annotation,manual labeling, etc.) may be used by during model training 4014 togenerate refined model 4412. In at least one embodiment, customerdataset 4406 may be applied to initial model 4404 any number of times,and ground truth data may be used to update parameters of initial model4404 until an acceptable level of accuracy is attained for refined model4412. In at least one embodiment, once refined model 4412 is generated,refined model 4412 may be deployed within one or more deploymentpipelines 4110 at a facility for performing one or more processing taskswith respect to medical imaging data.

In at least one embodiment, refined model 4412 may be uploaded topre-trained models 4106 in model registry 4024 to be selected by anotherfacility. In at least one embodiment, his process may be completed atany number of facilities such that refined model 4412 may be furtherrefined on new datasets any number of times to generate a more universalmodel.

FIG. 44B is an example illustration of a client-server architecture 4432to enhance annotation tools with pre-trained annotation models, inaccordance with at least one embodiment. In at least one embodiment,AI-assisted annotation tools 4436 may be instantiated based on aclient-server architecture 4432. In at least one embodiment, annotationtools 4436 in imaging applications may aid radiologists, for example,identify organs and abnormalities. In at least one embodiment, imagingapplications may include software tools that help user 4410 to identify,as a non-limiting example, a few extreme points on a particular organ ofinterest in raw images 4434 (e.g., in a 3D MM or CT scan) and receiveauto-annotated results for all 2D slices of a particular organ. In atleast one embodiment, results may be stored in a data store as trainingdata 4438 and used as (for example and without limitation) ground truthdata for training. In at least one embodiment, when computing device4408 sends extreme points for AI-assisted annotation 4010, a deeplearning model, for example, may receive this data as input and returninference results of a segmented organ or abnormality. In at least oneembodiment, pre-instantiated annotation tools, such as AI-AssistedAnnotation Tool 4436B in FIG. 44B, may be enhanced by making API calls(e.g., API Call 4444) to a server, such as an Annotation AssistantServer 4440 that may include a set of pre-trained models 4442 stored inan annotation model registry, for example. In at least one embodiment,an annotation model registry may store pre-trained models 4442 (e.g.,machine learning models, such as deep learning models) that arepre-trained to perform AI-assisted annotation on a particular organ orabnormality. In at least one embodiment, these models may be furtherupdated by using training pipelines 4104. In at least one embodiment,pre-installed annotation tools may be improved over time as new labeledclinic data 4012 is added.

Inference and/or training logic 1115 are used to perform inferencingand/or training operations associated with one or more embodiments.Details regarding inference and/or training logic 1115 are providedherein in conjunction with FIGS. 11A and/or 11B.

At least one embodiment of the disclosure can be described in view ofthe following clauses:

1. A method comprising:

-   -   receiving, at a first processor, packet information from a        network interface that forwards corresponding packets to a        second processor;    -   analyzing the packet information at the first processor; and    -   transmitting an indication of a result of the analysis to the        second processor to influence processing of the corresponding        packets by the second processor.

2. The method of clause 1, further comprising classifying, by the firstprocessor, the packet information at the first processor into at least afirst group and a second group, wherein analyzing the packet informationcomprises analyzing, by the first processor, packet informationclassified in the first group based, at least in part, on one or moreheader values that define the first group.

3. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein the first processor classifiesthe packet information based, at least in part, on a key value computedby a hash function of a hash table using the one or more header values.

4. The method of any of clauses 1-3, wherein analyzing the packetinformation further comprises analyzing, by the first processor and inparallel with analysis of the packet information classified in the firstgroup, packet information classified in the second group based, at leastin part, on one or more header values that define the second group.

5. The method of any of clauses 1-4, wherein the packet informationcomprises a plurality of packets received from the network interface.

6. The method of any of clauses 1-6, wherein analyzing the packetinformation comprises using a neural network to determine whether thepacket information indicates malicious behavior.

7. The method of any of clauses 1-6, further comprising sorting a subsetof the packet information according to an order by which individualitems of the subset of the packet information were received by the firstprocessor.

8. The method of any of clauses 1-7, further comprising:

-   -   receiving, at a third processor, second packet information from        the network interface;    -   generating a second result by analyzing, at the third processor,        the second packet information using one or more machine learning        techniques; and    -   transmitting an indication of the second result to the second        processor.

9. The method of any of clauses 1-8, wherein the first processor is aparallel processing unit and wherein the second processor is a centralprocessing unit.

10. The method of claim any of clauses 1-9, wherein the first processor,second processor, and network interface are components of a networkdevice.

11. A system comprising:

-   -   a first processor; and    -   memory comprising instructions that, when performed by the first        processor, cause the system to at least:        -   receive, by the first processor, a set of network packet            data from a network interface that forwards the set of            network packet data to a second processor;        -   analyze, by the first processor, the set of network packet            data to determine one or more status values associated with            the set of network packet data; and        -   transmit, by the first processor, the one or more status            values to the second processor to influence processing of            the set of network packet data by the second processor.

12. The system of clause 11, further comprising:

-   -   identifying, by the first processor, a first data value        associated with a first subset of the set of network packet data        and a second data value associated with a second subset of the        set of network packet data;    -   classifying, by the first processor, the set of network packet        data into a first group and a second group based, at least in        part, on the first data value and the second data value; and    -   determining, by the first processor, the one or more status        values based, at least in part, on the first group and the        second group.

13. The system of clause 11 or 12, wherein the first processordetermines the one or more status values by identifying a first set offeatures associated with the first group and a second set of featuresassociated with the second group, and inferring the one or more statusvalues based, at least in part, on the first set of features and thesecond set of features.

14. The system of any of clauses 11-13, wherein the first processorclassifies the set of network packet data into the first group and thesecond group based, at least in part, on one or more key values computedby a hash function of a hash table.

15. The system of any of clauses 11-14, wherein analyzing the set ofnetwork packet data comprises using a neural network to determinewhether the set of network packet data is malicious.

16. The system of any of clauses 11-15, wherein the system is a networkappliance implementing at least a rules-based firewall that comprisesthe second processor.

17. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a set ofinstructions, which if

performed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors toat least:

-   -   receive duplicated packet information from a network interface;

classify the duplicated packet information into a first group and asecond group;

analyze the first group and the second group to determine a first resultand a second result; and

provide the first result and the second result to facilitate firewallrules associated with the duplicated packet information.

18. The machine-readable medium of clause 17, wherein the instructions,if performed, further cause the one or more processors to classify theduplicated packet information based, at least in part, on a key computedby a hash function of a hash table.

19. The machine-readable medium of clause 17 or 18, wherein the hashfunction of the hash table computes the key associated with at least thefirst group based, at least in part, on data from the duplicated packetinformation comprising:

-   -   a source internet protocol address;    -   a destination internet protocol address;    -   a source network port;    -   a destination network port; and    -   a network protocol.

20. The machine-readable medium of any of clauses 17-19, wherein theinstructions, if performed, further cause the one or more processors todetermine the first result and the second result using one or moreneural networks.

21. The machine-readable medium of any of clauses 17-20, wherein the oneor more processors are graphics processing units.

In at least one embodiment, a single semiconductor platform may refer toa sole unitary semiconductor-based integrated circuit or chip. In atleast one embodiment, multi-chip modules may be used with increasedconnectivity which simulate on-chip operation, and make substantialimprovements over utilizing a conventional central processing unit(“CPU”) and bus implementation. In at least one embodiment, variousmodules may also be situated separately or in various combinations ofsemiconductor platforms per desires of user.

In at least one embodiment, referring back to FIG. 17 , computerprograms in form of machine-readable executable code or computer controllogic algorithms are stored in main memory 1704 and/or secondarystorage. Computer programs, if executed by one or more processors,enable system 1700 to perform various functions in accordance with atleast one embodiment. In at least one embodiment, memory 1704, storage,and/or any other storage are possible examples of computer-readablemedia. In at least one embodiment, secondary storage may refer to anysuitable storage device or system such as a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, a compact disk drive, digital versatile disk (“DVD”) drive,recording device, universal serial bus (“USB”) flash memory, etc. In atleast one embodiment, architecture and/or functionality of variousprevious figures are implemented in context of CPU 1702, parallelprocessing system 1712, an integrated circuit capable of at least aportion of capabilities of both CPU 1702, parallel processing system1712, a chipset (e.g., a group of integrated circuits designed to workand sold as a unit for performing related functions, etc.), and/or anysuitable combination of integrated circuit(s).

In at least one embodiment, architecture and/or functionality of variousprevious figures are implemented in context of a general computersystem, a circuit board system, a game console system dedicated forentertainment purposes, an application-specific system, and more. In atleast one embodiment, computer system 1700 may take form of a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, servers, supercomputers,a smart-phone (e.g., a wireless, hand-held device), personal digitalassistant (“PDA”), a digital camera, a vehicle, a head mounted display,a hand-held electronic device, a mobile phone device, a television,workstation, game consoles, embedded system, and/or any other type oflogic.

In at least one embodiment, parallel processing system 1712 includes,without limitation, a plurality of parallel processing units (“PPUs”)1714 and associated memories 1716. In at least one embodiment, PPUs 1714are connected to a host processor or other peripheral devices via aninterconnect 1718 and a switch 1720 or multiplexer. In at least oneembodiment, parallel processing system 1712 distributes computationaltasks across PPUs 1714 which can be parallelizable—for example, as partof distribution of computational tasks across multiple graphicsprocessing unit (“GPU”) thread blocks. In at least one embodiment,memory is shared and accessible (e.g., for read and/or write access)across some or all of PPUs 1714, although such shared memory may incurperformance penalties relative to use of local memory and registersresident to a PPU 1714. In at least one embodiment, operation of PPUs1714 is synchronized through use of a command such as _syncthreads( ),wherein all threads in a block (e.g., executed across multiple PPUs1714) to reach a certain point of execution of code before proceeding.

Other variations are within spirit of present disclosure. Thus, whiledisclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications andalternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof areshown in drawings and have been described above in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that there is no intention to limit disclosure tospecific form or forms disclosed, but on contrary, intention is to coverall modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents fallingwithin spirit and scope of disclosure, as defined in appended claims.

Use of terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in context ofdescribing disclosed embodiments (especially in context of followingclaims) are to be construed to cover both singular and plural, unlessotherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context, and notas a definition of a term. Terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,”and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (meaning“including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. “Connected,”when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to beconstrued as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joinedtogether, even if there is something intervening. Recitation of rangesof values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method ofreferring individually to each separate value falling within range,unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value isincorporated into specification as if it were individually recitedherein. In at least one embodiment, use of term “set” (e.g., “a set ofitems”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context,is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or moremembers. Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context,term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote aproper subset of corresponding set, but subset and corresponding set maybe equal.

Conjunctive language, such as phrases of form “at least one of A, B, andC,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically statedotherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwiseunderstood with context as used in general to present that an item,term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of set ofA and B and C. For instance, in illustrative example of a set havingthree members, conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “atleast one of A, B and C” refer to any of following sets: {A}, {B}, {C},{A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}. Thus, such conjunctive language isnot generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require atleast one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to bepresent. In addition, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context,term “plurality” indicates a state of being plural (e.g., “a pluralityof items” indicates multiple items). In at least one embodiment, numberof items in a plurality is at least two, but can be more when soindicated either explicitly or by context. Further, unless statedotherwise or otherwise clear from context, phrase “based on” means“based at least in part on” and not “based solely on.”

Operations of processes described herein can be performed in anysuitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearlycontradicted by context. In at least one embodiment, a process such asthose processes described herein (or variations and/or combinationsthereof) is performed under control of one or more computer systemsconfigured with executable instructions and is implemented as code(e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one ormore applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, byhardware or combinations thereof. In at least one embodiment, code isstored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in form of acomputer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable byone or more processors. In at least one embodiment, a computer-readablestorage medium is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatexcludes transitory signals (e.g., a propagating transient electric orelectromagnetic transmission) but includes non-transitory data storagecircuitry (e.g., buffers, cache, and queues) within transceivers oftransitory signals. In at least one embodiment, code (e.g., executablecode or source code) is stored on a set of one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media having stored thereon executableinstructions (or other memory to store executable instructions) that,when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by one or moreprocessors of a computer system, cause computer system to performoperations described herein. In at least one embodiment, set ofnon-transitory computer-readable storage media comprises multiplenon-transitory computer-readable storage media and one or more ofindividual non-transitory storage media of multiple non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media lack all of code while multiplenon-transitory computer-readable storage media collectively store all ofcode. In at least one embodiment, executable instructions are executedsuch that different instructions are executed by differentprocessors—for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium store instructions and a main central processing unit (“CPU”)executes some of instructions while a graphics processing unit (“GPU”)executes other instructions. In at least one embodiment, differentcomponents of a computer system have separate processors and differentprocessors execute different subsets of instructions.

Accordingly, in at least one embodiment, computer systems are configuredto implement one or more services that singly or collectively performoperations of processes described herein and such computer systems areconfigured with applicable hardware and/or software that enableperformance of operations. Further, a computer system that implements atleast one embodiment of present disclosure is a single device and, inanother embodiment, is a distributed computer system comprising multipledevices that operate differently such that distributed computer systemperforms operations described herein and such that a single device doesnot perform all operations.

Use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments ofdisclosure and does not pose a limitation on scope of disclosure unlessotherwise claimed. No language in specification should be construed asindicating any non-claimed element as essential to practice ofdisclosure.

All references, including publications, patent applications, andpatents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to sameextent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicatedto be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entiretyherein.

In description and claims, terms “coupled” and “connected,” along withtheir derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these termsmay be not intended as synonyms for each other. Rather, in particularexamples, “connected” or “coupled” may be used to indicate that two ormore elements are in direct or indirect physical or electrical contactwith each other. “Coupled” may also mean that two or more elements arenot in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate orinteract with each other.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be appreciated thatthroughout specification terms such as “processing,” “computing,”“calculating,” “determining,” or like, refer to action and/or processesof a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computingdevice, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical,such as electronic, quantities within computing system's registersand/or memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within computing system's memories, registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

In a similar manner, term “processor” may refer to any device or portionof a device that processes electronic data from registers and/or memoryand transform that electronic data into other electronic data that maybe stored in registers and/or memory. As non-limiting examples,“processor” may be a CPU or a GPU. A “computing platform” may compriseone or more processors. As used herein, “software” processes mayinclude, for example, software and/or hardware entities that performwork over time, such as tasks, threads, and intelligent agents. Also,each process may refer to multiple processes, for carrying outinstructions in sequence or in parallel, continuously or intermittently.In at least one embodiment, terms “system” and “method” are used hereininterchangeably insofar as system may embody one or more methods andmethods may be considered a system.

In present document, references may be made to obtaining, acquiring,receiving, or inputting analog or digital data into a subsystem,computer system, or computer-implemented machine. In at least oneembodiment, process of obtaining, acquiring, receiving, or inputtinganalog and digital data can be accomplished in a variety of ways such asby receiving data as a parameter of a function call or a call to anapplication programming interface. In some implementations, process ofobtaining, acquiring, receiving, or inputting analog or digital data canbe accomplished by transferring data via a serial or parallel interface.In another implementation, process of obtaining, acquiring, receiving,or inputting analog or digital data can be accomplished by transferringdata via a computer network from providing entity to acquiring entity.References may also be made to providing, outputting, transmitting,sending, or presenting analog or digital data. In various examples,process of providing, outputting, transmitting, sending, or presentinganalog or digital data can be accomplished by transferring data as aninput or output parameter of a function call, a parameter of anapplication programming interface or interprocess communicationmechanism.

Although discussion above sets forth example implementations ofdescribed techniques, other architectures may be used to implementdescribed functionality, and are intended to be within scope of thisdisclosure. Furthermore, although specific distributions ofresponsibilities are defined above for purposes of discussion, variousfunctions and responsibilities might be distributed and divided indifferent ways, depending on circumstances.

Furthermore, although subject matter has been described in languagespecific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to beunderstood that subject matter claimed in appended claims is notnecessarily limited to specific features or acts described. Rather,specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms ofimplementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a firstprocessor, one of a first or second set of packets from a networkinterface that forwards the other of the first or second set of packetsto a second processor, the first and second sets of packets beingduplicates of each other; the first processor analyzing the set ofpackets received by the first processor to thereby classify the receivedset of packets into a plurality of flows; the first processorsubsequently extracting representative features of interest associatedwith a first of the plurality of flows; the first processor using theextracted features of interest to generate an indication of whetherpacket information associated with the first flow is indicative ofmalicious behavior; transmitting the indication to the second processor;updating, based at least in part on the indication, a set of rules bythe second processor; and processing the set of packets forwarded to thesecond processor based, at least in part, on the set of rules.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein generating the indication comprisesclassifying the packet information into at least a first group and asecond group, and analyzing a first portion of the packet informationclassified in the first group based, at least in part, on one or moreheader values that define the first group.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the first processor classifies the packet information based, atleast in part, on a key value computed by a hash function of a hashtable using the one or more header values.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein analyzing the first portion of the packet information furthercomprises analyzing, in parallel with analysis of the first portion ofthe packet information, a second portion of the packet informationclassified in the second group based, at least in part, on one or moreheader values that define the second group.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein generating the indication comprises using a neural network todetermine whether the packet information is indicative of the maliciousbehavior.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the indicationcomprises sorting a subset of the packet information according to anorder by which individual items of the subset of the packet informationwere received by the first processor.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe packet information is first packet information, the indication is afirst indication, and the method further comprises: receiving, at athird processor, second packet information from the network interface;generating a second indication by analyzing, at the third processor, thesecond packet information using one or more machine learning techniques;transmitting the second indication to the second processor; andupdating, based at least in part on the second indication, the set ofrules by the second processor.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst processor is a parallel processing unit and the second processoris a central processing unit.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst processor, the second processor, and the network interface arecomponents of a network device.
 10. A system comprising: a plurality ofprocessors comprising a first processor and a second processor; andmemory comprising instructions that, when performed by the plurality ofprocessors: cause the first processor to at least receive a first set ofnetwork packet data from a network interface, analyze the first set ofnetwork packet data to determine one or more status values associatedwith the first set of network packet data, and transmit the one or morestatus values to the second processor; and cause the second processor toat least receive a second set of network packet data from the networkinterface, update a set of rules based at least in part on the one ormore status values, and process the second set of network packet databased, at least in part, on the set of rules, wherein the networkinterface received a received set of the first or second sets of networkpacket data and duplicated the received set to create another of thefirst or second sets of network packet data.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the instructions, when performed by the plurality of processors,further cause the first processor to: identify a first data valueassociated with a first subset of the first set of network packet dataand a second data value associated with a second subset of the first setof network packet data; classify the first set of network packet datainto a first group and a second group based, at least in part, on thefirst data value and the second data value; and determine the one ormore status values based, at least in part, on the first group and thesecond group.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first processor isto determine the one or more status values by identifying a first set offeatures associated with the first group and a second set of featuresassociated with the second group, and inferring the one or more statusvalues based, at least in part, on the first set of features and thesecond set of features.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the firstprocessor is to classify the first set of network packet data into thefirst group and the second group based, at least in part, on one or morekey values computed by a hash function of a hash table.
 14. The systemof claim 10, wherein analyzing the first set of network packet datacomprises using a neural network to determine whether the first set ofnetwork packet data is malicious.
 15. The system of claim 10, whereinthe system is a network appliance implementing at least a rules-basedfirewall that comprises the second processor.
 16. At least onemachine-readable medium having stored thereon a set of instructions,which if performed by one or more processors: cause at least one firstprocessor of the one or more processors to at least receive packetinformation from a network interface, classify the packet informationinto a first group and a second group, analyze the first group and thesecond group to determine a first result and a second result, andprovide the first result and the second result to at least one secondprocessor of the one or more processors; and cause the at least onesecond processor to at least receive duplicate packet information fromthe network interface, update firewall rules based at least in part onthe first result and the second result, and process the duplicate packetinformation based, at least in part, on the firewall rules, wherein theduplicate packet information is a duplicate of the packet informationreceived by the at least one first processor.
 17. The at least onemachine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, ifperformed by the one or more processors, further cause the at least onefirst processor to classify the packet information based, at least inpart, on a key computed by a hash function of a hash table.
 18. The atleast one machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the hash functionof the hash table computes the key associated with at least the firstgroup based, at least in part, on data from the packet informationcomprising: a source internet protocol address; a destination internetprotocol address; a source network port; a destination network port; anda network protocol.
 19. The at least one machine-readable medium ofclaim 16, wherein the instructions, if performed by the one or moreprocessors, further cause the at least one first processor to determinethe first result and the second result using one or more neuralnetworks.
 20. The at least one machine-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the one or more processors are graphics processing units.